Trump assassination attempt: Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller talks about shooting

Sid Miller witnesses Trump shooting

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller shares his account of what he saw and heard during the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

AUSTIN, Texas - Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller was in attendance at Saturday's campaign rally in Pennsylvania, where former President Donald Trump was injured in an assassination attempt.

Miller was mere feet away from the former president when the shots rang out.

Miller spoke with FOX 7 Austin's John Krinjak about what he saw and heard.

JOHN KRINJAK: Commissioner Miller, thanks so much for joining us. I appreciate it, and I'm so glad you're okay. I just want to ask you what's going through your mind right now? How are you sort of processing all this?

SID MILLER: Well, you know, as a statewide elected official, you know, something like this is always on your mind. I get death threats all the time. Normally I'm armed. I wasn't yesterday, because, you know, they don't allow weapons into the rally.

JOHN KRINJAK: Describe what you saw and heard in that moment. Did it sound like gunfire? Did you realize it was gunfire at first?

SID MILLER: I was there front row, 30 feet from President Trump. When the shooting started, I heard a pop. Pop. I thought it was fireworks. By the third, when I realized it was gunfire. So I turned and looked at President Trump. He still had that puzzled look on his face, like he hadn't figured out what's going on, where's it coming from? And then the fourth shot struck him in the side of the head, and he immediately went down to the floor of the platform. Secret Service rushed up on the stage. Then three more shots rang out. When the shooting stopped, I started looking around to see if anyone was hurt. There was a gentleman behind me that was struck in the head. He died. A lady was hit in the chest. She's still in critical condition. And then, I spoke to Congressman Ronnie Jackson's nephew. He was behind me, and he got struck in the neck, but it was superficial. I don't think he even had to go to hospital. So three people directly behind me were hit.

JOHN KRINJAK: How many shots did you hear or see in the moments leading up to those gunshots? Was there anything out of the ordinary at all, or was it just a normal rally?

SID MILLER: It was a normal rally. I've been to many of them. And, nothing different about this one.

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CONTINUED COVERAGE

JOHN KRINJAK: What was the demeanor of former President Trump like? It looked like he obviously was was shocked and stunned at first, but seeming to, you know, try and reassure the crowd. What was that like to see him in those moments after he was injured?

SID MILLER: Well, he did get up. I was glad to see that. I thought he'd probably do a free body shot. But he got up, so sorry. You know, our body shielding him, but he, he managed to raise his hand, fist above that. Did some, you know, some fist pumps and while he did, the crowd was yelling, keep fighting. Keep fighting. You know, keep fighting, of course. Crowd responded, you know, chanting USA, USA and like, whisk him off the stage to get medical help after.

JOHN KRINJAK: What happened in those moments afterwards? Obviously we all saw the video of the Secret Service swarming the stage there. What was that like, though, being just feet away from that? What was happening?

SID MILLER: Well, I was probably two foot away from a Secret Service agent that had drawn his weapon. And, you know, I was trying to help him, you know, spot the individual. There were people yelling, you know, but they were mainly yelling for medical help for the wounded. You know, women were crying. People were, you know, still crouched down, not unsure if the shooter had been apprehended or not. We didn't know that. I thought there might have been possibly more than one. But I was wrong there, later found out. But when he finally calmed down, the security detail did an excellent job of controlling the crowd. There was no wholesale panic or stampeding or anything like that.

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JOHN KRINJAK: So was everyone kind of swiftly evacuated after the former president was brought out?

SID MILLER: Now he, the president left, and we remained there while they were still trying to assess the situation and see if, you know, there was still a shooter in the crowd, but, they identified the, you know, finally figured out that they'd taken the shooter down. And then after that, they just, you know, the crowd dispersed.

JOHN KRINJAK: What's your takeaway from all this? The fact that it was, you know, it was in a political context, the first assassination attempt on a president or a presidential candidate, at least at this level since President Reagan back in 1981. Obviously, the temperature is so high in our politics right now. What do you think needs to change in that regard?

SID MILLER: Well, we obviously need to have more mental health. We probably need to reevaluate the security detail. There's, of course, when you present the details, it's a much stronger force than it is when you're, you know, just challenged. I'm actually going to call for RFK today to have a security detail. He has not. I'm calling on the Biden administration immediately. Give him some security.

JOHN KRINJAK: Just I mean, breathing a sigh of relief tonight that, you know, obviously, obviously, we had one person killed, but that this wasn't an even bigger tragedy.

SID MILLER: It could have been a lot worse. That's for sure. I mean, I'm going to ask your listeners to pray for our nation, pray for recovery. President Trump, pray for those victims that are still in the hospital and, pray for the two families who lost loved ones, including the assassin's family. It's got to be hard on them [to] go through this. So, keep everyone in your prayers, please.

JOHN KRINJAK: All right. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, thanks for taking some time. We're glad you're doing okay.

SID MILLER: Thank you, sir.