Trump Braille art spells out aftermath of shooting
2025-01-20
Category: entertainment

A blind artist has unveiled an image of Donald Trump in Braille dots, which spell out his conversation with Secret Service agents following the assassination attempt in July 2024.Seconds after the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, agents tried to move Trump to safety, but he demanded to retrieve his shoes and then paused to make a fist pump gesture.The exchanges have been recreated by Portsmouth artist Clarke Reynolds to mark Trump's inauguration later.He said he was giving blind people access to "the iconic image of the 21st Century".
The image shows Trump with blood on his face and his arm aloft in front of a large American flag.He made the fist gesture while mouthing the word "fight" three times, according to a CNN report.Following the gunshots, agents exclaimed: "Up!", "Move!" and "Go, go, go!", according to the transcript.However, Trump replied: "Let me get my shoes," which he later said were knocked off because "they tackled me so damn hard".
Mr Reynolds said he wanted to make the story of the shooting more accessible to art lovers.He said: "As a Braille artist, it's the idea to give power back to blind people in a visual world."They say a painting says a thousand words. And mine literally does."The artist was blind in one eye from the age of six and began to lose sight in his other eye in about 2015.He tours schools in the guise of a character called "Mr Dot" to spread awareness of Braille.Mr Reynolds' Trump piece is one of a trilogy of American images composed of Braille symbols, including the US flag and the Statue of Liberty.He said: "Who knows who will buy it - Elon Musk? In the art world, you do need a bit of luck."
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