Brothers share their experience running from Trump rally shooting

“So, you just heard shot, and then, like, a good five seconds, and then shot, shot, shot, shot and, like, boom,” Tyler Hoke said.

Tyler Hoke and his twin brother Jake shared what happened the moment shots rang out at the rally for former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania last weekend.

“And that's when we realized, like, it was gunfire, and everybody dropped to the ground and got as low as possible,” said Tyler.

Tyler Hoke is a student at Quinnipiac University. He and his brother were home in New Jersey and decided to take a last-minute trip to visit another college friend at home in Pennsylvania. They heard about the rally and decided to go last minute.

The day started out for them at noon. It took two hours to get through security, and they felt relatively safe with the law enforcement they saw at the event.

But it was hot, and the mood was heavy as people stood in the heat for six hours.

“They did have free water, but it was in clear cases and clear bottles, and it's 95 degrees out, so it was hot, undrinkable, pretty much,” Tyler explained. “So, there's a lot of people passing out from, like, heat exhaustion, heat strokes.”

And people were getting anxious because Trump was an hour late to the stage.

“Everybody's fear subsided after seeing him walk out,” Jake said.

But that all changed when the shots were fired from their left. Everyone got to the ground and they waited a few seconds before taking off to the right of the stage, opposite of where the gunman was firing.

“Given the polarization today, there was a good chance that that person could have been firing on the crowd as well,” Tyler continued. “So, I don't want to be in the middle of an open field in potential harm's way.”

But it took him a minute to run. Jake was out ahead, yelling for him.

“Trying to keep the three of us together because it was me and Guy running, and I was looking for him behind me and I didn’t see him at first,” said Jake.

Tyler says he was stuck in a moment, shocked as he tried to process what was happening.

They said those on the risers behind the former president were trapped. They couldn’t get down because there were victims shot and the former president was swarmed with Secret Service agents.

“So, most people were just like huddled up around their loved ones that they were with, and that's the best that they could do, and it's a real shame,” said Tyler.

They made it to a medical tent and then walked a mile to their car, which was parked outside the venue. They said their decision to park offsite saved them from the confusion in the parking lot.

“But on our walk, we were able to see, like the choppers coming through, and a lot of the people on foot, just how the reactions are, with the mix of confusion, being scared and just being angry,” Jake said.

Tyler is the vice president of the student Republican Club at Quinnipiac University. He said the shooting could bring some sympathy votes for Trump, but it may not widely resonate with younger voters of either political party. 

“I don't believe that this will change the fact that our generation is uninterested, and the problem, I think, stems from all the doom and gloom that we have of our future between like Social Security running out, climate change, all the inequities within society,” Tyler explained. “Like everybody wants to just check out and not deal with it, and I believe that will just only make things worse.”

He said he believes that the way to have a brighter future is to get involved. It’s the reason he became the vice president of the Republican Club at QU.

“I'm more of a moderate political figure. I don't really believe in the extremely conservative views, but I do believe in political discourse on campuses, especially because most people fear of sharing their opinions,” Tyler said.

Jake questions why there’s a minimum age for president but no maximum. He adds that someone in their 20s could be a good candidate and more relatable to younger voters.

“We were going to live with the consequences of those choices that older people are making, and we can only do that by voting, and we don't have that direct representation,” Jake said.

They said the day will always stick with them. They’ll still attend large gatherings, but the shooting will always be in the back of their minds.

The brothers said people have reached out to them in support from both political parties, and Jake says he’s grateful for the support. They say being able to share their story helps them deal with what they went through.

“We just survived where we could have died, where other people were hurt and sadly were [killed], and our hearts go out to them,” Jake said.