Donald Trump is feted by his former rivals in a show of Republican unity after rally shooting

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Donald Trump was celebrated Tuesday at the Republican National Convention by former rivals who just months ago leveled harsh critiques about him, a show of unity that contrasts with the divisions increasingly ripping through the Democratic Party.

Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador who was Trump’s final challenger in the GOP primary, directly addressed her supporters after taking the stage to a mix of cheers and boos.

“My message to them is simple: You don’t have to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him,” Haley said.

She was followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a onetime Trump ally turned primary rival who has worked to rebuild his relationship with the former president since dropping out of the primary.

“Donald Trump has been demonized. He’s been sued. He’s been prosecuted. And he nearly lost his life,” DeSantis told the crowd. “We cannot let him down. And we cannot let America down.”

Such overtures are typical in political conventions, where the purpose is often to bring a party together after bitter primaries. But the Haley and DeSantis appearances were particularly notable given the personal animosity that defined this year’s GOP contest — much of that being directed by Trump at Haley and DeSantis.

The displays of unity stood in stark contrast to the dynamic facing Democrats, many of whom are increasingly uncertain that President Joe Biden is the right choice to take on Trump in the November election.

DeSantis was once seen as best positioned to challenge Trump's position at the top of the party. As a presidential candidate, he was slow to criticize Trump directly before eventually accusing him of repeatedly failing to follow through on his promises.

Haley, meanwhile, painted Trump as chaotic and suggested the 78-year-old was too old to serve another term. Unlike DeSantis, she did not immediately endorse Trump after she dropped out, instead waiting a few months to announce he had her vote.

Biden's campaign resurrected Haley's criticisms Tuesday. Austin Weatherford, a spokesperson for the campaign, said in a statement, “Ambassador Haley said it best herself: someone who doesn’t respect our military, doesn’t know right from wrong, and ‘surrounds himself in chaos’ can’t be president."

Several speakers spotlighted immigration, a key element of former Trump ’s political brand that helped endear him to the GOP base when he began his first campaign in 2015.

Trump has criticized the unprecedented number of migrants entering the country illegally through the U.S. border with Mexico. The numbers of unauthorized crossings have fallen abruptly after Biden issued a rule suspending many asylum claims at the border.

At rallies and other campaign events, Trump has pointed to examples of migrants who committed heinous crimes and has blamed migration for the trafficking of drugs like fentanyl, even though federal data suggests many people smuggling fentanyl across the border are U.S. citizens. He has vowed to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history.

Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric has also strayed into talking points not backed by evidence, including unfounded claims that migrants are entering the country to vote in the 2024 election.

Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the House majority leader, made that statement in his remarks, declaring, “Biden and Harris want illegals to vote now that they’ve opened up the border.”

The convention's programming has featured people the campaign has referred to as “everyday Americans." On Tuesday, they included people who had lost loved ones to fentanyl overdoses or in violent crimes linked by authorities to immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

Among the speakers was Michael Morin, whose sister was Rachel Morin, a Maryland woman whom prosecutors say was killed and raped by a fugitive from El Salvador.

“Joe Biden and his designated ‘border czar’ Kamala Harris opened our borders to him and others like him, empowering them to victimize the innocent,” Morin told the audience.

Peer-reviewed academic studies have generally found no link between immigration and violent crime, though conclusions vary based on the data examined.

Trump's survival of an attempted assassination Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania was on the minds of many inside the hall. One of the delegates in the crowd could be seen with a folded white piece of paper over his ear — an apparent tribute to the bandage Trump wore when he entered the hall Monday to a roaring crowd.

Trump was again wearing a bandage when he arrived Tuesday night, appearing even earlier in the arena than he did the night before. Trump entered a few minutes after his newly chosen running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.

Scalise, who was injured in a politically motivated shooting in 2017 while he was practicing for a charity baseball game, spoke of his own experience when he touched on Trump's attack.

“While I was fighting for my life, Donald Trump was one of the first to come to console my family at the hospital. That’s the kind of leader he is. Courageous under fire, compassionate towards others,” Scalise said.

In the wake of Saturday’s attempt on Trump’s life, there was a heightened focus on security at the convention, which drew thousands of people to downtown Milwaukee, including a number of high-profile elected officials.

A man armed with an AK-47 pistol and wearing a ski mask was taken into custody Monday, the convention’s first day, near the Fiserv Forum where the convention is being held, a federal law enforcement official said Tuesday. The official was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

On Tuesday, five Ohio police officers who were in Wisconsin for the convention shot a man who was in a knife fight near the convention, killing him, Milwaukee’s police chief said.

Trump and Vance were expected to appear in the hall each night of the convention. Vance is slated to speak Wednesday and Trump will speak Thursday.

Trump, who has long decried rivals with harsh language and talked about prosecuting opponents if he wins a second term, seemed poised to deliver a more toned-down speech. His eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., said in an Axios interview outside the RNC that he spent three or four hours going through his father’s convention speech with him, “trying to de-escalate some of that rhetoric.”

“I think it lasts," the younger Trump said of the change in his father's rhetoric. "There are events that change you for a couple minutes, and there are events that change you permanently.”

But there were also hints in Tuesday's programming of some of Trump's old grievances, including several references to Trump's disproven theories of election fraud. One of the primetime speakers, Madeline Brame, railed against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office prosecuted Trump for illegally orchestrating a hush money scheme to influence the 2016 election. That made Trump the first former president convicted of a felony crime.

Brame accused Bragg of having mishandled the cases against the people accused of killing her son. Of Trump, she said, “He’s been a victim of the same corrupt system that I have been and my family has been.”

Then she echoed a version of a line he has delivered at his rallies for years.

“They’re after us," she said. "He’s just standing in the way.”

Swenson reported from Minneapolis. Fernando reported from Chicago. Associated Press writers Steve Peoples, Jill Colvin, Meg Kinnard, Farnoush Amiri, Bill Barrow and Thomas Beaumont in Milwaukee and Michael Balsamo in Chicago contributed to this report.

Follow the AP's coverage of the 2024 election at https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

Delegates listen during the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A suppoerter holds a sign during the Republican National Convention Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Republican National Committee Co-chair Lara Trump speaks during the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Delegates cheer during the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives with Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, during the second day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives during the second day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is introduced during the Republican National Convention Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. At right is Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., speaking on the second day of the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Former Ambassador Nikki Haley speaking on the second day of the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Sen. Ted Cruz speaks during the Republican National Convention Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is introduced during the Republican National Convention Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Arizona delegate Joe Neglia place a paper on his ear during the Republican National Convention Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Wisconsin Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde speaks during the Republican National Convention Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Sara Brady poses for a photo during the Republican National Convention Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Kari Lake speaking during the second day of the Republican National Convention, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Delegates pray during the Republican National Convention Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Kari Lake speaks during the Republican National Convention Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Delegates cheer during the Republican National Convention Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, second from right, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, right, take questions during a Mom's for Liberty function during the second day of the 2024 Republican National Convention near the Fiserv Forum, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Joe Lamberti)

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis take questions during a Mom's for Liberty function during the second day of the 2024 Republican National Convention near the Fiserv Forum, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Joe Lamberti)

Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, left, talks with with Danny Tiso, director of press advance for the Trump campaign, right, during the walkthrough for the Republican National Convention Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

A vendor sorts his merchandise is seen during the second day of the 2024 Republican National Convention near the Fiserv Forum, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Volunteers gather for a meeting outside the Fiserv Forum during the second day of the 2024 Republican National Convention, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump appears during the Republican National Convention, Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump appears during the Republican National Convention Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump appears with vice presidential candidate JD Vance, R-Ohio, during the Republican National Convention Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump attends the first day of the Republican National Convention, Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, attend the first day of the Republican National Convention, Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A man suspected of going on a three-hour shooting rampage in Northern California and killing 81 animals, including miniature horses, goats and chickens, pleaded not guilty to animal cruelty and other charges.

Vicente Arroyo, 39, made his first court appearance Thursday after Monterey County Sheriff deputies arrested him earlier in the week for allegedly using several weapons to shoot the animals being housed in pens and cages on a lot in the small community of Prunedale.

The animal owners do not want to be identified or speak with the media, Monterey County Sheriff Commander Andres Rosas told The Associated Press Friday.

“I went out there, and it was a pretty traumatic scene. These were people’s pets,” he said.

One of the miniature horses belonged to the owner of the lot where the animals were housed, the other 80 belonged to someone who rented the land to house their pets, Rosas said.

According to court records, Arroyo was charged with killing 14 goats, nine chickens, seven ducks, five rabbits, a guinea pig and 33 parakeets and cockatiels. Arroyo is also charged with killing a pony named Lucky and two miniature horses named Estrella and Princessa, KSBW-TV reported.

Some animals survived the shooting that lasted several hours but had to be euthanized because of the severity of their injuries, Rosas said.

Rosas said Arroyo lived in a camper in a vineyard next to the lot where the animals were kept and that a motive is not yet known.

Authorities received multiple 911 calls around 3:25 a.m. Tuesday reporting shots being fired in Prunedale, an incorporated community about 8 miles (13 kilometers) from the city of Salinas, he said.

Deputies who arrived on the scene could hear shots being fired, and a shelter-in-place was ordered for a five-mile radius.

Monterey County S.W.A.T. members were sent in, and the sheriff’s office also requested drone assistance from the nearby Seaside Fire Department and Gonzales Police Department, Rosas said.

Officers in an armored vehicle arrested Arroyo without incident, he said.

Deputies found a crashed pickup truck and recovered eight firearms, including long rifles, shotguns and handguns, at the scene. After executing a search warrant on his camper, they found another seven firearms, including an illegal assault weapon and two ghost guns, and about 2,000 rounds of various calibers of ammunition, Rosas said.

Prosecutors charged Arroyo with dozens of charges involving animal cruelty, willful discharge of a firearm with gross negligence, illegal possession of an assault weapon, vandalism, drug possession and making criminal threats and terrorizing while being in possession of a firearm as a felon.

“This is obviously the most horrific animal cruelty case we’ve ever seen in this county, I’m sure,” Chief Assistant District Attorney Berkley Brannon told KSBW-TV after the Thursday hearing.

Arroyo’s defense attorney, William Pernik, raised doubts about his mental competency. The judge ordered Arroyo, who is being held on a $1 million bail, to undergo a mental evaluation.

The court will get an update on Arroyo’s mental status in two weeks, the television station reported.

This photo provided by the Monterey County Sheriff's Office on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, shows some of the items confiscated from the Prunedale, Calif., home of Vicente Arroyo, suspected killing dozens of animals. (Monterey County Sheriff's Office via AP)

This photo provided by the Monterey County Sheriff's Office on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, shows some of the weapons confiscated from the Prunedale, Calif., home of Vicente Arroyo, suspected killing dozens of animals. (Monterey County Sheriff's Office via AP)

This photo provided by the Monterey County Sheriff's Office on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, shows the scene in Prunedale, Calif., during the serving of a search warrant for home of Vicente Arroyo, suspected killing dozens of animals. (Monterey County Sheriff's Office via AP)