Journalist Salena Zito writes for ousted NYT reporter Bari Weiss’s publication “The Free Press.” It was a place for independent journalists to work, and it became official in 2022.

Zito just happened to be four feet from former President Trump when the shots rang out, and she gave an account of what happened.

She is very shaken up and wrote that she will talk about the incident in more depth but she wanted to get some of her thoughts out for now.

There are photographs of Zito who was shielded by a campaign staffer for Trump.

Many of you know my friend, Salena Zito. She’s an excellent reporter who writes with great affection about rural America. On Saturday, she was four feet from Donald Trump when the shooting started. That’s her on the ground, beneath a campaign staffer determined to protect her.… pic.twitter.com/veLvw8dTbK

— The Real Mike Rowe (@mikeroweworks) July 15, 2024

Zito wrote that six minutes into the speech, when she her the pops, she knew exactly what it was:

I looked up at the president. He touched his ear. I was shocked to see blood on his face. A smear of red across his cheek.

Suddenly, he was surrounded. Everyone went down.

My daughter hit the ground. My son-in-law lay on top of her. I threw my body next to theirs. Immediately, a security officer was on top of me.

“ARE YOU OKAY? ARE YOU OKAY?” he asked.

Three more shots.

Pop.

Pop.

Pop.

I’ve since seen videos of what happened. People were screaming. But all I remember hearing was an eerie silence. With that kind of crowd, you’d expect pandemonium, a stampede. But I never had a sense of chaos.

Trump was back on his feet within seconds, although his red hat was knocked off his head. He was calm.

I heard him shout to one of his staffers, “Get my shoes!”

He lifted his arm in the air. I think he shouted, “Fight!”

Then he definitely shouted, “USA!”

The crowd chanted it back in unison.

The former president was moved off the stage. We were told he was flown to a local hospital. I was moved into a holding pen with the other journalists.

Here’s another image she shared in her piece:

The staffer was under no obligation. He didn’t cower and take cover. He immediately shielded a member of the press, made sure she was ok, and moved on.

Meanwhile…

This is a stunning image. The female secret service agent hiding. Also the female agents were reportedly asking “what are we doing?”

No, I don’t think this means that there are zero women capable of this job.

But yes, I do think it means we should wake up from our cultural… https://t.co/oxoi7v9dr3

— Keri Smith 🌱Deprogrammed (@RealKeriSmith) July 14, 2024