AUSTIN, Texas — An Austin man is sharing what he saw and heard during the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on Saturday.
He's back home now after a chaotic 48 hours in Butler, Pennsylvania.
KVUE spoke with Benjamin Shrader, who just returned to Austin on Monday. He said because of where his seat was, he feels incredibly lucky to be here.
Grass-stained pants, a sunburnt face and a lasting terror – Shrader was invited personally by Trump's team to come see him speak in Butler, Pennsylvania, over the weekend.
"It said, 'We'd love to have you out as a special guest at this event.' I thought it was fake," Shrader said. "I had, you know, massive brain surgery, [a] golf ball-sized brain tumor. And they'd heard all about that. And I guess it was almost like a make-a-wish."
With Shrader getting a direct invite, his seats were very close to former President Trump and the stage. It wasn't long before what Shrader called one of his coolest moments turned into a nightmare.
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"I hear, pop, pop, pop, pop and many pops. I see Donald Trump do this [grab his ear], and I instantly duck because I know what a gun sounds like," Shrader said.
At that moment, he said it became a gruesome scene directly around him.
"There was an individual, I could only see the torso and legs and so much blood," Shrader said.
Shrader said he got down and tried to make himself as small as he could because he didn't know what could come next.
"It went over my head. I heard a pop, pop, pop and a whizz, whizz, whizz – like darts," Shrader said. "I thought the shooter was in the crowd. After the person was hit back there, a tactical team rushed the bleacher area."
Shrader said the security was so tight, in his opinion, that he doesn't see how this happened. Now, a couple of days out, he feels thankful to be here.
"I nearly got shot. I watched a man die. This was not a fake thing. This was very much – you know, that blood that was all over the bleachers was not fake," Shrader said.
Shrader said this will be the last political rally he will attend, as this was just too much of a close call for him. As far as what's next, he said he would happily coordinate with law enforcement should they need anything from him regarding this incident.