Former US president Donald Trump is alleged to be the target of an assassin during his election rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. The attack was captured by Doug Mills, a veteran photojournalist for The New York Times, who was ‘only feet away’ from the former president. Mills not only captured a bullet whizzing by Trump’s head but also the moment it struck the former president in the ear as he (Trump) first touched the wound to discover he had been struck by gunfire.
A remarkable photo captured by my former White House Press Corps colleague Doug Mills.
Zoom in right above President Trump’s shoulder and you’ll see a bullet flying in the air to the right of President Trump’s head following an attempted assassination. pic.twitter.com/FqmLBCytoW
— Haraz N. Ghanbari (@HarazGhanbari) July 14, 2024
A remarkable series of photos taken by @dougmillsnyt and posted on NYT, where you can see a bullet fly past Trump’s head, Trump touching his right ear, and then removing his hand with blood on it: https://t.co/BlVYoEASHN pic.twitter.com/MyptVvjHaX
— Meridith McGraw (@meridithmcgraw) July 14, 2024
Who is Doug Mills?
Veteran photojournalist Doug Mills was born in 1960 and studied at Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria, Virginia. He is married with two daughters.
Before joining NYT, Mills served the Associated Press for 15 years as chief photographer. Mills has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize twice. During his stint at AP, Mills was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for photography for covering coverage of former President Bill Clinton and Al Gore’s electoral campaign in 1993. Mills got his second Pulitzer Prize for covering the investigative story of President Clinton and his love interest, Monica Lewinsky.
Mills was also honoured with the Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage by Visual Journalists in 2020 and again in 2023, in addition to numerous awards from the White House News Photographers Association.
Mills is also interested in sports photography. He has spent decades in this field and has covered Super Bowls, World Series, and many golf majors, including the Masters. Mills has also covered 16 Olympics.
Doug Mills on Donald Trump Shooting
In an interview, Doug Mills, the Pulitzer Prize winner photojournalist, narrated his experience with The New York Times.
When asked about the incident, Mills said that Trump’s Saturday rally was a typical one. It was a hot day, and the former president arrived nearly an hour late at the venue, waving the people as he usually does. All of a sudden, there were three or four loud noises. Mills said that at first, he thought it was a noise from some car, and he kept taking pictures, but when he went behind the lectern, he realized that something serious had happened.
The veteran photojournalist further told The NYT that while taking pictures, he went to the other side of stage so that he can better, there he (Mills) realised that Trump is still alive after the former president got up and raised his fist in the air. Mills said he could see blood on Trump’s face. The former president was looking in a very shocked state.
When the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist was asked if he had been in a similar situation earlier in his career, he replied that he had never been in such a horrific situation in his 35 to 40 year career, during which he has covered several presidents.