Blake Marnell was in his usual brick-print suit and in his usual position in the center of the front row on Saturday night to listen to Donald Trump’s speech.
That meant he was barely 10 metres away from the former president when he heard what he thought were firecrackers behind the crowd.
His eyewitness account, told exclusively to DailyMail.com, reveals the terror, anger and ultimately relief that swept through the Pennsylvania crowd as a gunman attempted to assassinate the 45th US president and the man expected to return to power next year.
“I instinctively looked to the left,” he said, searching for the source of the sound. “The next time I turned to look at the president, Secret Service agents were tackling him to the ground.”
As he watched officers use their bodies to protect Trump on the ground, he could hear more gunshots directed at the shooter.
He ducked to protect himself from being caught in the crossfire. Around him, others threw themselves to the ground.
People were sobbing, he said, while others began praying for the former president.
Suddenly, the area was filled with gunfire. In front of him, all the officers and law enforcement officers had their weapons out and were scanning the crowd for targets.
From his vantage point, he could hear the officers accompanying Trump getting organized, which gave him a small relief.
“They weren’t asking for medical help. They were preparing to move him,” she said. “That made me feel more optimistic.”
As he watched, Trump stood up, restrained by officers. Marnell could see blood dripping from a spot just near his right ear.
“He stood in the corner of the stage, raised his fist in the air and shook it a few times,” Marnell said, his voice shaking with adrenaline.
“It was a very defiant gesture. And when I saw it, I had a lot of hope that everything would be fine.”
Marnell is best known as “the guy in the brick suit” for his outfit designed to replicate Trump’s wall.
Blake Marnell is a regular at Trump rallies in his brick-colored suit. He was in the front row on Saturday and posted this image hours before Trump took the stage.
A Secret Service agent and members of the crowd take cover as gunshots are heard.
Marnell described the profound relief she felt when she saw Trump stand up and give a clenched fist salute to supporters in the crowd.
He’s a regular with the “Front Row Joes,” as they call themselves, and travels around the country to attend events. He estimates he’s attended about 40 rallies and plans to be in Milwaukee this week for the Republican National Convention, where he will be a delegate from California.
He said it would inevitably make Trump stronger politically.
“It’s hard to imagine that he wouldn’t have some sympathy for that at a time like this,” he said.
That wouldn’t make him retire, he said, just days before accepting the party’s nomination in Milwaukee on Thursday.
Things will never be the same, he said, describing how he watched first responders rush to treat multiple victims in the stands on either side of Trump’s podium.
“We may not see a demonstration like this in the future,” he said. “There will be demonstrations, but they will be very controlled, perhaps more controlled in closed spaces, with more thorough controls.”
The video shows the moment the drama unfolds. A shot is heard and Trump puts his hand to his face before crouching down.
Secret Service agents arrive from all sides to protect him.
Thousands of people had gathered to hear Trump speak Saturday night at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania. Minutes after he began speaking, all hell broke loose.
The rally site was quickly evacuated after shots were fired at Trump on Saturday night.
Shouts from the crowd can be heard everywhere.
Marnell said that once the president was moved to a secure location, the crowd was ordered to disperse.
“They cordoned off the whole place like it was a crime scene,” he said. “And they kicked us all out.”
He said the enormity of the events and the risk to his life only hit him when the excitement had worn off. He was left shaking, in the after-effects of a massive adrenaline rush.
“The smart thing to do was to get down on the floor,” he said, reflecting on what was supposed to be just another evening of Trump speaking that ended up being a front-row seat to history. “But that’s not what I did.”