Content warning: This article includes explicit descriptions of gun violence.
When 22-year old Cayla Chiodo heard the gunshots ring out at the rally near Butler, Pennsylvania, the first thing she thought of was her little sister, Brianna.
“I was just trying to get her out of there,” Chiodo said. “I’ve been taught to evacuate. I was trying to move as fast as I could.”
The two started the day off in high spirits, excited to see former president Donald Trump for what would be their first time since 2020. Only a few hours later, Brianna was ducking on the ground, hyperventilating in the paralysis of a panic attack – waiting for the gunfire to cease.
“It was scary being on that ground,” she said. “I wanted it to get deeper and deeper as I was on it, but it couldn’t.”
It’s a scene most members of Gen-Z have likely imagined themselves in. They’re the generation who grew up being drilled for school shootings, who look for the nearest exit in almost any public setting and have even been referred to as the “lockdown generation.” They’re the ones who, like Chiodo, have been taught to evacuate.
But for the Chiodo sisters, and others in MAGA youth culture, something about July 13 felt different. Before gunfire erupted that Saturday, Butler was oozing with patriotism. Back in 2020, 65% of the county voted for Trump. With many in the area unified by an allegiance to the GOP and a certain vision of America, one where guns are a way to protect against bad things happening, young people who attended the rally said they felt safe and excited. Yet despite the presence of Secret Service agents and dozens of local police officers, the most American kind of violence still ensued.
Ben Shrader, sitting directly left to the stage in a VIP seat with his name on it, says he was specially invited by the Trump campaign to meet the former president. The 25-year-old survivor of brain cancer jokingly referred to this meeting as his “Gen-Z make-a-wish.” Deaf in his right ear as a result of his cancer, Shrader’s directional hearing isn’t optimal, but he says he knew the shots of gunfire right away.
“I turned around and I looked in the bleachers directly behind me, I just saw a torso, legs and blood,” he recalled.
Ben would later realize what he had directly witnessed was the fatal shooting of 50-year old Corey Comperatore, a firefighter and father of two.
Regardless of political affiliation, research shows a majority of Americans strongly condemn what Shrader witnessed. Thomas Zeitzoff, an associate professor at American University, specializes in political violence and social media. According to his own polling and survey work, he’s found that Americans overwhelmingly reject political violence.
“Trump supporters, Biden supporters, young or old. Only 5% of people actually support political violence and that might even be a higher number,” Zeitzoff said. “I think the key here is super-charged political rhetoric and then a lot of access to guns.”
On X, Zeitzoff added, “We are in a period of rising nasty politics. Politicians are more willing to insult, dehumanize, threaten, and incite violence against their political opponents. There's also the rise of threats to politicians and public officials.” Trump himself was impeached for “incitement of insurrection” for the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Five hours away from Butler, Chloe Hunt is an incoming senior and vice president of University of Pennsylvania’s College Republicans. While the 20-year old isn’t an active supporter of Trump, the current political climate and shooting in Butler has left her hesitant to attend any convention or crowded political event.
“Regardless of what your political affiliation is, it’s incredibly alarming to see this as someone in Gen-Z,” she said, decrying the polarized state of American politics. While the assassination attempt was frightening, Hunt said the existing gun violence issue in the country is what would give her the most pause about attending a large political event. “America’s gun problem is going to contribute to more violence, especially when you have radicalized and polarized people.”
More than 43,000 people died as the result of gun injuries in the U.S. in 2023, according to The National Institute for Health Care Management. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy recently declared gun violence a public health crisis, pointing out that firearms have become the leading cause of death for children and teenagers in this country. The two major parties take starkly different stances on this issue. Trump and the GOP have pushed to expand access to guns, while the Biden administration championed a gun safety law that requires background checks in online and gun show sales, among other measures.
Though the GOP has leaned heavily on the “good guy with a gun” theory, or the idea that arming civilians can prevent mass or criminal shootings, data doesn't bear that out. There are reportedly 120 guns per every 100 Americans, meaning guns outnumber people in the U.S. In comparison to other high-income countries, our death rate from firearms is 26 times higher.
After witnessing the assassination attempt at the Butler rally, young Trump supporters said they felt disturbed but firm in their support for Second Amendment rights. Brianna and Cayla Chiodo insisted that the gunman — a registered Republican who lived an hour outside of Butler County — was unlike other gun owners in the area and claimed that firearms are a necessity for America.
“The people having the right to own [firearms] is one of the only defenses we have from not having more issues like this,” rally attendee Draven Chapel, 20, said, though many have pointed out that this shooting happened in the presence of a cadre of armed law enforcement officers.
Shrader says that while what happened on July 13 won’t push him away from the polls, or from the political clubs and groups he’s actively involved in, he has no plans to attend any political rally again, for any political figure — at least not anytime soon.
“When you see how much blood comes out of someone, you know, we’re a lot more fragile than you think,” he said.
