New York Times photographer Doug Mills stunned Americans with the iconic image he captured of a bullet whizzing past former President Trump after grazing his ear at a Pennsylvania rally over the weekend.
The moment remains a focal point as the Republican National Convention kicks off Monday, where Mills sat down with Fox News to share his firsthand account of the shocking ordeal.
“I just happened to be down, shooting with a wide angle lens just below the president when he was speaking. There was a huge flag waving right above his head, and I just happened to be taking pictures at the same time,” he told “America’s Newsroom” in Milwaukee.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“Then, when I heard the pops, I guess I kept hitting on the shutter, and then I saw him reach for his [ear]. He grimaced and grabbed his hand and looked. It was blood, and then he went down, and I thought, ‘Dear God, he’s been shot,'” he continued.
Mills, like many others present, failed to initially realize the sounds were gunshots.
He recalled watching as Secret Service swarmed the former president in a few “split seconds,” obstructing his view of Trump.
“All I could see was them, and [they’re] holding their guns and guns are out everywhere and everybody’s yelling, ‘Get down, get down, get down! Active shooter, active shooter!’” he recalled.
“I probably did not do the smartest thing by running right at it, but that’s what [photojournalists do.].”
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he is rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Mills said the moment he discovered he had captured an image of the bullet whizzing past Trump was a “surprise” to him.
It happened after he was ushered into a tent and began sending photos of the former president’s now widely-circulating defiant fist pump to an editor.
“I was like, ‘Oh, hell. I remember taking pictures of him when this happened. Let me go back and look.’ I started looking at it. I started sending them right away, and I called one of the editors and said, ‘Please look at these really closely. This might have been near the moment where he was shot,’” he said.
“She called me back like five minutes later and said, ‘You won’t believe this.’ She goes, ‘We actually see a bullet flying behind his head, and I was like, ’Oh my gosh.'”
Mills said he captured the rally images with a Sony a1 camera.