San Diego man shares his reaction to the Trump rally shooting
(NBC, KYMA/KECY) - A San Diego man who survived the deadly rally shooting is speaking out about what he's calling a traumatic experience.
As screams of chaos filled the air after the shooting at the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, footage shows Blake Marnell, right in front of the podium, standing up in his border wall suit, trying to grasp what happened.
"I don't really know that I fully, you know, come to grips with it," Marnell expressed.
As Secret Service agents rushed to the stage, footage shows Marnell stand up and pull out his phone to capture the deadly violence unfolding around him.
"I think more so that comes out when people are asking me about it and I realized how traumatic it still is for them, for everybody who witnessed it," Marnell added.
He say about 15 minutes into Mr. Trump's speech, chaos ensued after hearing what sounded like firecrackers.
Marnell says he looked around at the audience, but it didn't immediately register that what he was hearing were gunshots.
His thoughts and head immediately turned to the president, who couldn't be seen because he was draped and surrounded by Secret Service.
"I was wondering if he was dead. I was wondering if the worst case scenario had happened. And I was really just trying to listen to what the Secret Service was saying," Marnell shared.
Marnell says he heard a second series of shots and people around began telling each other to get down.
Once the gunfire stopped, he got up, and moments later saw Mr. Trump get up, with blood at the top of his right ear and he could see blood at the top of his ear.
He says a wave of emotion washed over the crowd. There was shock and anger, prayer and a lot of people were worried.
"And, you know, we were still all very concerned with, you know, there could be other injuries that we couldn't see. But we saw him, we saw fighting him. And we saw him walk off largely under his own power. I mean, as best as you can when you have six or seven Secret Service agents with their arms draped all over you. I mean, that's not an easy task."
Blake Marnell, San Diego resident who attended the Trump rally in Pennsylvania
It wasn't until after the former president was whisked away that marnell says he found out about the Trump supporter who was killed by the gunman and the two others that were seriously injured.
"It's incredibly sad. You know, that's absolutely tragic. I think that Americans, no matter what their political affiliation, would agree that you should reasonably expect to be able to go to a political gathering and not fear for your life."
Blake Marnell, San Diego resident who attended the Trump rally in Pennsylvania
Marnell is hoping he says he wants our the country can rise above this tragedy.
"And we cannot live our lives in fear in America. We can't. We'll become prisoners of it. And I would like people not to be afraid. This is a situation that makes someone afraid. But broadly speaking, we're not going to solve anything through fear. We're not going to solve anything through violence in our political spectrum either. So I'd like people to consider another solution, which is hope and a plan to move our country forward in a better direction."
Blake Marnell, San Diego resident who attended the Trump rally in Pennsylvania
