A bronze sculpture of the event that galvanized the 2024 presidential campaign has appeared in the Oval Office — catching the dramatic moment seconds after the Butler, Pennsylvania, assassination attempt on Donald J. Trump.
The artwork shows Trump standing tall with a raised fist as three Secret Service agents shield him. An American flag hangs in the background.
Reporters and photographers noticed the new sculpture on the Resolute Desk as Trump signed a series of executive orders on Friday.
One of the agents reaching for Trump in the sculpture is none other than current Secret Service Director Sean Curran, whom Trump appointed.
Another depicted in the statue is the female agent who came under heavy criticism for being too short for the duty, but whom Trump vigorously defended and praised as willing to “take a bullet” for him.
In the July 13, 2024, attempt, a bullet fired from a nearby rooftop at the Butler Farm Show Grounds by alleged would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks sliced through Trump’s ear.
It was followed by several more shots, seriously wounding two rally goers and killing former Pennsylvania volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore as he dove to shield his family.
The shooting stopped when a sniper took out Crooks with a more than one-hundred-yard kill shot.
Trump dove to the platform during the assault and he rose bleeding as agents tried to escort from the stage. But Trump stopped and turned to the crowd, clenched his fist in the air, and shouted “fight, fight, fight.”
The work appears to be a miniature rendering of a proposed statue by artist Stan Watts, who has created notable statues of founding fathers as well as monuments to Martin Luther King Jr. and the 9/11 Firefighters raising the flag at the World Trade Center.
The effort is part of the Trump Statue Project, which is planning on creating a nine-foot replica to honor the president. The group’s website states, “This powerful image, embodying ‘Confidence, Strength, and Hope,’ will be immortalized in this nine-foot-tall statue. It symbolizes the divine intervention as well as the man and his message of unity and resilience for which America stands.”
Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
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