'It was surreal:' Local veteran describes shooting at Trump rally

Jul. 26—CUMBERLAND — Sarah Taylor said she was excited for a "once in a lifetime" experience.

She had gotten tickets for herself and a friend to attend former President Donald Trump's campaign rally July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The event venue was a relatively short drive from her Cumberland home, Taylor, 42, said.

But "once we made it in," the scene surrounding the rally was "fishy" and "eerie," said Taylor, who enlisted in the Air Force in 2001, worked as a flight nurse and left the military at the rank of captain in 2019.

Only a chain-link fence separated folks who had passed through a security check, and people outside the rally's boundary who had not been cleared to attend the event, she said.

Civilian cars were parked relatively close to the stage where Trump was set to speak, and no police dogs or drones were present, Taylor said.

"From being deployed ... I know that perimeter was not secure," she said and added she's attended concerts that "seemed more organized."

Trump had been scheduled to speak at 5 p.m., but appeared on stage roughly an hour later, and directed his staffers to move teleprompters and display immigration statistics on a screen, Taylor said.

That caused Trump to move his head, which she believes saved his life.

Trump spoke for a few minutes before a series of popping noises interrupted him, Taylor said.

Initially, some folks appeared to have a delayed shock and reacted to the noises as if they were firecrackers, "but I knew better," she said.

Taylor, an experienced shooter who owns an AR-15 rifle and regularly practices at a gun range, said she heard seven to eight shots.

"It was very rapid," she said.

After Secret Service bodyguards rushed to Trump, she realized he hadn't sustained any serious injuries when he stood, raised his fist and told the crowd "fight," Taylor said and added she was surprised the agents didn't fully surround him.

"I would have thrown him down on the ground immediately and covered him," she said. "They weren't prepared for it."

Taylor, who wrote obituaries and some staff reports for the Cumberland Times-News from 1999 to 2001, now works as a travel nurse across the country.

After the shots were fired at the rally, she said she looked at the crowd surrounding her to see if anyone needed help, but no one appeared wounded.

Taylor photographed images from the scene before and after the shots were fired.

"I was taking pictures of what I thought was significant," she said.

"I can't tell you why ... I just did."

After the shooting, she gave her photos to the FBI, she said.

"I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it," Taylor said of the experience and added the rally should have been peaceful rather than jeopardized. "It was surreal."

Teresa McMinn is a reporter for the Cumberland Times-News. She can be reached at 304-639-2371 or tmcminn@times-news.com.