Utah lawmakers condemn Trump assassination attempt

Prominent Utah Republicans and Democrats over the weekend decried the assassination attempt on former President Trump.

The big picture: The shooting at a Pennsylvania campaign rally has dominated headlines since news broke Saturday evening, with lawmakers across the political spectrum raising concerns about political violence.

• Two U.S. House members said Sunday they plan to file a bill that would enhance security protection for presidential candidates.

What they're saying: Utah Republican Gov. Spencer Cox, who ran a yearlong campaign to combat political polarization as National Governors Association chair, called the attack " sickening and horrifying " on X on Saturday.

• Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) called on Biden and the governors of Georgia and New York to dismiss all criminal charges against Trump "to take the political temperature down."
• "Political violence is wrong in any form," read a statement from Utah Democratic Party chair Diane Lewis. "Our thoughts are with those affected by the news out of Pennsylvania."

Zoom out: Utah political figures were already on edge as threats against government officials rose across the U.S.

Flashback: Last year, Cox's campaign office downtown was vandalized by a man who had allegedly targeted Cox and his family previously.

• Anti-mask protesters in 2020 demonstrated outside the home of then-state epidemiologist Angela Dunn.
• Before she retired last year, then-Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen told the Salt Lake Tribune her office faced increasing vitriol and an uptick in threatening phone calls after the 2020 presidential election.

Between the lines: The Utah Department of Public Safety in 2022 saw a "dramatic increase" in threats made toward local elected officials following the 2021 U.S. Capitol attack, per the Tribune.

Catch up quick: Trump said a bullet pierced his ear during the shooting, writing on Truth Social on Saturday that he "felt the bullet ripping through the skin."

• Corey Comperatore , a former Pennsylvania fire chief who attended the rally, was killed in the attack. Officials say his final act was to dive on his family members to shield them.
• The FBI identified the alleged shooter , who Secret Service agents killed after he opened fire, as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel, Pennsylvania. A motive isn't clear.

What's next: The Republican National Convention begins Monday in Milwaukee, and you can expect Trump to receive a hero's welcome.

The bottom line: This will be a defining moment for the presidential election, especially when just days ago the conversation focused almost entirely on Democratic concerns that President Biden didn't have the stamina to win .

• The Biden team now has to juggle a delicate moment as the entire campaign narrative has shifted drastically.

Go deeper: Axios reporter Sophia Cai was on the scene in Pennsylvania, and she wrote about what she saw .

• See photos of the shooting's aftermath.