‘It was shocking’: Utah GOP Chair Rob Axson speaks on attempted assassination of Donald Trump

SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) — Utah GOP Chair Rob Axson was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, ahead of the Republican National Convention when he heard the news of the attempted assassination on former president Donald Trump .

On Saturday, July 13, Trump was speaking at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a shooter began firing toward the stage.

“It was shocking,” Axson told ABC4.com. “This should not happen in the United States, this type of evil act.”

One rally attendee was killed and two others were injured . Secret Service agents killed the suspected shooter, whom the FBI identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks , 20, from Pennsylvania.

“What happened today was an attack against every single God-fearing, loyal, patriotic American, regardless of what your political stripes may be,” Axson said in an interview on Saturday.

The FBI is investigating the shooting at the rally as an assassination attempt . Soon after the shooting, the Utah GOP released a statement from Axson via social media .

That statement is as follows:

The Utah Republican Party invites Utahns everywhere to pray for the health, safety, and well being of Donald Trump. We condemn the evil displayed today.

UTAH GOP CHAIRMAN ROB AXSON VIA TWITTER/X

Axson told ABC4.com that the incident “should be a motivation to be better,” despite one’s political affiliation.

“I think we have an opportunity, across the political divide now, to respond to what we saw today — by showing that we as an American public, we as citizens, we as neighbors, are better than the acts of this one terrified coward,” Axson said.

After the assassination attempt, Trump was treated at a medical facility. On Sunday, he was set to spend the night in Milwaukee with plans to attend the RNC as scheduled the next day.

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