ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Saturday’s shooting at a rally for former President Donald Trump sent shockwaves across the country.

News10NBC’s Bret Vetter spoke with people in Rochester to get their reactions to the news that Trump had been hurt during the shooting.

Most of the folks Vetter spoke with at Corn Hill Landing hadn’t heard about what happened. They were enjoying the weekend and nice weather with their families and were stunned to hear the former president had been injured.

“You never know.So people have to be prepared,” said Henry Jalil, a voter.

The shots fired at the rally reminded Jalil about the Kennedy assassination. Out enjoying the day with his family at Cobbs Hill Park, he was startled to hear about what happened, but not surprised.

“My first reaction is that I was thinking something that would happen eventually because some people like them, like him a lot. He’s always in front of a bunch of different people. You never know,” Jalil said.

Jalil says he feels the political environment in the country is only getting worse. Hearing that former President Trump was carried off a stage after being grazed by a bullet reinforces that belief.

“In my opinion, it’s going to be like internal war. Because some people are pro-Trump. Some people are not. So it’s going to be a disaster. Winning or losing. Something is going to change,” said Jalil.

But others like Kevin Dunphy say they did not think something like this would happen.

“It was pretty surprising. It’s bad that someone would try to shoot a presidential candidate,” Dunphy said.
Dunphy says he’s concerned about the way party politics have been trending.
“They become really extreme really angry get really fixed in their beliefs and unwilling to compromise with each other,” said Dunphy.

But no matter whether you are a Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, Dunphy says that violence is never acceptable.

“It’s a bad thing. Trying to assassinate a presidential candidate. No matter what your political views are. This is not the way you do it. It’s not the way you are supposed to do it in America,” Dunphy said.

Vetter spoke with as many people as he could at Cobbs Hill Park. Biden supporters and Trump supporters all gasped when told about the attack, no matter who they said they were supporting.

Local elected officials on both sides of the aisle have been sending statements and taking to social media all evening, condemning this attack.

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