Updated: Jul. 15, 2024, 9:47 a.m. | Published: Jul. 14, 2024, 5:29 p.m.
By Jillian Delaney | jdelaney@siadvance.com
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — In a hall off Richmond Road, elected Staten Island GOP officials gathered to express their sorrow and outrage over the apparent attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
“This is a crucial moment in history. We just celebrated the 248 years since our independence, just the other week. We saw yesterday, our constitutional republic come within a breath of being dealt a significant blow with the near killing, the near assassination of Donald Trump,” Carr said.
“What separates us from communist states, dictatorships, third world banana republics, is that we don’t murder our political opponents. We beat them at the ballot box. That doesn’t mean we don’t get angry, that doesn’t mean we don’t protest, it doesn’t mean we don’t fight hard—but we fight on soap boxes, we fight in ballot booths. Not with weapons,” Borelli said.
Lanza, however, said that this “tragic” event “ought not be any surprise to anyone.”
“The responsibility for this act is that deranged, demonic shooter who, obviously, did not have the benefit of good upbringing. I don’t think, as it has been suggested through the night, that it’s too early to ask questions, that we ought not to politicize or ask questions. I think that’s nonsense,” Lanza emphasized.
He highlighted the need to know whether presidential candidates like Trump, President Joe Biden, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and their supporters are safe within their respective rallies as the country moves forward.
As he continued to speak, Lanza and his colleagues were quick to pin some of the blame on the “hate” from the left and the media for this disaster. Lanza himself called the shooter “a sort of Manchurian assassin.”
“Listen to what has been said about Donald Trump for 10 years. The left, both in Hollywood, the media, in government — have not said his policies are bad. They’ve demonized him for 10 years… You turn on the television, any morning show, and you hear people who have a following, especially among young people, say things like, ‘He’s Hitler.’” Lanza stated. “What do you think is going to happen when you say the man who’s running for office is Hitler? What do you think some impressionable, deranged, demonic person might think to themselves after you’ve convinced them that the person running for president is Hitler?”
The suspected shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, is registered to the Republican party.
“It doesn’t matter who he is. It doesn’t matter why he did it. The fact is that he tried to kill President Trump. That’s it. We are here to condemn those actions, to say violence is not the answer. Violence should not breed more violence. [If] you want to do something about it, you don’t like the direction our country is headed, make your voice heard in the political process and in the ballot box. That’s the reason why we’re here today,” Tannousis said.
Tannousis also offered condolences and prayers to the family of the fallen rally goer, in addition to the two victims who were critically injured during the shooting.
“It is both shocking and heartbreaking that someone attempted to assassinate President Trump. In the process, innocent bystanders were also shot, including one who sadly succumbed to injuries. While we are still waiting to learn more about the shooter and how this horrifying act was able to occur, we are thankful for the Secret Service officers who ushered President Trump to safety and neutralized the situation in a matter of seconds. The way President Trump has been targeted and vilified has gone too far. This act of political violence and pure hatred is unacceptable. As Americans, we can disagree but should respect opinions from across the political spectrum and engage in respectful dialogue about the important issues facing our country today. The attempted assassination of any political candidate is unacceptable and only further divides our nation,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis said in a written statement.
A ‘security failure’
Lanza went on to credit former President Barack Obama and Biden for their statements in the wake of the rally, saying that they took on the right tone. Nevertheless, he called for the president and Democrats to “stop calling Donald Trump a threat to democracy. That’s bulls—t and you know it.”
It’s no secret that both sides of the aisle have exhibited fiery speech against their political opponents, but when a member of the press asked whether or not the officials believed that Trump’s prior rhetoric had anything to do with this shooting, Borelli called the question “f—king bizarre.”
Though they thanked the Secret Service and other first responders in their swift action to protect Trump and the attendees, the elected officials were vocal in their assessment that there was a “security failure” at the fated rally.
“A rookie cop out of the academy, if she were sent to that scene, would have known enough to look at that building and say, ‘Who’s got that rooftop?’” Lanza said, his hands shaking as he spoke. “Someone in Secret Service signed off on that security plan. They send an advanced team; they go there, the experts, with millions of dollars of assets and they survey, and they say, ‘What is the plan? We need something here; we need to put assets there. Hey, someone take that rooftop.’ Someone signed off on that plan. Someone failed the people of this country.”
When asked by a member of press about gun control, the elects quickly said that the investigation is ongoing and information about the gun used in the shooting is not yet available. Tannousis, who served as a prosecutor, said “our streets are filled with illegal guns.”
What about Staten Island political rallies?
“We cannot let this incident stop us from participating in the political process. If anything, it should motivate us to participate more in the political process. I assure you that on Staten Island, we have an adequate police. We support the police department. We have more than enough police officers that live on Staten Island, off duty police officers, [and] more than enough people that have carry licenses to carry firearms because they are either retired law enforcement personnel, or active law enforcement. Any political events that we have on Staten Island, I assure you, the Republican Party will take safety as a top priority and any people that would like to come in will be secure,” Tannousis stated.
For those looking to “fight back,” Pirozzolo offered some ways to safely and peacefully do so.
“You vote. You do it at the ballot box. You don’t do anything crazy. This election is our election to lose. Do not give the media or the Democrats any opportunity to hold anybody’s actions against us. You want to help out? You vote, you get your friends, your family, to vote; you get lawn sign, you put it on your lawn; you contribute to a candidate; you participate in the democracy that has made this the best country on the face of this planet,” Pirozzolo said.
Staten Islanders on Sunday also commented on the incident, with two folks noting they’re fearful for the state of the country.
“I saw [the assassination attempt on President Reagan], I remember Reagan. They hated Reagan and they hate Trump. This is more hatred than back then, that time wasn’t as divisive. This is clearly, purely, about divisiveness,” Paul, 59, from Westerleigh, said.
“I think it’s terrible, and very sad. It makes me worried about the future of our country,” Anne F., 62, from Willowbrook, said.