Saturday was supposed to be a turning point for Malphine Fogel’s mission to free her son from a Russian prison.
The 95-year-old was set to take the stage with former President Donald Trump at the latter’s rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania. Prior to the event, Fogel spoke with Trump about her son, Marc, who is three years into a 14-year prison sentence he received for possessing medical marijuana, for which he had a prescription from an American doctor.
Vicki Iseman, a spokeswoman for <a href="https://www.freemarcfogel.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Free Marc Fogel</a>, was with Malphine at the event.
“We were dancing and we were swaying,” Iseman recalled. “It was a real moment of joy in a woman&#8217;s life who does not have any moments of joy.”
Less than a half hour later, Fogel and Iseman watched from the VIP section as shots were fired at Trump who was about 25 feet away.
INTERVIEW: Trump Rally VIP Recounts Lawmakers’ Heroism Amid Assassination Attempt Chaos 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
95-year-old Malphine Fogel was set to join Trump on stage at his rally to advocate for her son&#8217;s release from a Russian prison
When shots rang out during the assassination attempt, congressmen and other VIPs covered her team &#8220;like a blanket&#8221; to flee to safety
Here&#8217;s her story: <a href="https://t.co/YCCl8ZaXPn">pic.twitter.com/YCCl8ZaXPn</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1813605554411147477?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2024</a></blockquote>
“[Trump] was pointing off the stage and looking at a screen and we were looking at the screen as well and then for some reason, I looked back at the president as he was talking about that, and I heard the crack, crack, crack, crack,” Iseman told the Daily Wire. “Then when he grabbed the side of his face, I saw him duck his head down.”
Feeling like the world was moving in slow motion, Iseman heard former Trump-endorsed Pennsylvania Senate candidate Sean Parnell, a veteran Army Ranger, take charge of the situation.
“I just started yelling and telling people they need to get down,” Parnell told The Daily Wire, adding that he knew instantly what the loud sounds were. “I’ve been in many gunfights but never one with my wife and a 95-year-old woman right next to me.”
Iseman said once she saw blood, she realized she needed to help Fogel, who has a disabled leg and could not get down on her own.
“I was looking down at Mrs. Fogel and Christine, and all I remember thinking was about her daughters … who’ve basically lost a brother for three years and I had their mother and I remember thinking, they won&#8217;t survive if their mother doesn&#8217;t survive,” Iseman said.
Along with Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick and Republican Reps. Mike Kelly and Dan Meuser, Parnell helped get Fogel on the ground, Iseman said.
Fogel, a Butler County native, has fought for her son’s freedom since his 2022 detention. According to Iseman, the Fogel family has largely been ignored by the Biden administration, despite President Joe Biden strongly advocating for the release of basketball player Brittney Griner, who was also detained in Russia for marijuana possession.
Malphine Fogel had not heard from Marc for three weeks prior to Saturday’s rally. But that morning, Marc called his mother. Iseman recorded a message from Marc, which she hoped to play for Trump.
“I am just in urgent need of being with my family and I’m in urgent need of somebody that has the bravery and power to get something done,” Marc said in the recording, in which he also thanked Trump for taking the time to “hear my mother’s thoughts and prayers.”
As Trump saw Fogel walking towards him on Saturday, the former president extended his arm to help her walk.<a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/IMG_6105-preview.heic" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-765627" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/IMG_6105-preview.heic" alt="" /></a>
“She took his arm and she said, ‘I am the mother of Marc Fogel,’” Iseman recalled. “And she had two things she wanted to ask him: to have his commitment to have her son designated as wrongfully detained and to bring him out.”
Fogel has long advocated for her son to receive the status of “wrongfully detained,” which would empower the U.S. government to use financial support to assist Marc with medical and other needs.
Trump told Fogel he would bring her son home if he became president, Iseman said.
“He was looking at a woman who was 95 years old who hasn&#8217;t seen her son—and if she doesn&#8217;t see him soon—she may never see him again and he knew what was in the balance there,” Iseman said, adding that Trump also promised to talk about Marc during his remarks.
But before Trump had a chance to mention the Fogels and their fight, he was grazed by a would-be assassin’s bullet. In the chaos that ensued, Iseman witnessed the VIPs seated near Fogel spring into action.
“They were the most important people there besides President Trump,” Iseman said, recalling that Kelly, Parnell, and the others refused to evacuate with their staff until Fogel was safe.
“They said they were not leaving Mrs. Fogel here,” Iseman said. “Those are heroes.”
Rep. Kelly “went over us like a blanket,” Iseman recalled, saying she still gets “chills when I think about it.”
“He would have taken a bullet.”
As the group evacuated, Kelly helped Fogel walk more than 15 minutes to a car, even though his family was in attendance at the event.
<div class="mceTemp"></div>
<div id="attachment_765645" style="width: 2521px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-765645" class="wp-image-765645 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/IMG_0958-preview-2.jpg" alt="" width="2511" height="1834" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/IMG_0958-preview-2.jpg 2511w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/IMG_0958-preview-2-300x219.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/IMG_0958-preview-2-789x576.jpg 789w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/IMG_0958-preview-2-768x561.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/IMG_0958-preview-2-1536x1122.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/IMG_0958-preview-2-2048x1496.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 2511px) 100vw, 2511px" />Malphine Fogel with Pennsylvania GOP national committee woman, Christine Toretti, Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick, and Rep. Dan Meuser. (Photo: Courtesy)</div>
“There’s something very sweet and basic about it,” Iseman said in tears, recalling congressman&#8217;s kindness. “This isn’t ‘oh is there a camera here’ [or] I’m helping a little old woman cross the street because I am doing a campaign commercial…’ this was very raw.”
After the event, Malphine Fogel spoke to Marc, who expressed concern that his mother had to witness the assassination attempt, <a href="https://www.wtae.com/article/trump-rally-marc-fogel-detained-russia/61605002" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ABC 4</a> reports.
Marc Fogel was arrested in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport for carrying half an ounce of marijuana that was prescribed by an American doctor to treat his chronic back pain. Fogel was returning to Russia to teach history at the Anglo-American School of Moscow, which the Russian government designated a “foreign agent” and shuttered in 2023.
The Fogel family has stepped up their push to free Marc since campaign season began, hoping a presidential candidate could use their platform to call for his release. While the family is encouraged Trump will still make a public push to help, they still have heard next to nothing from Biden. They say time is running out as Fogel’s medical condition continues to worsen in the prison.
Parnell said he feels compelled to advocate for the Fogel family, especially since the White House has failed to act.
<div id="attachment_765637" style="width: 769px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-765637" class="wp-image-765637 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/PhotoOct03202282115AM.jpg" alt="" width="759" height="730" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/PhotoOct03202282115AM.jpg 759w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/PhotoOct03202282115AM-300x289.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/PhotoOct03202282115AM-599x576.jpg 599w" sizes=" (max-width: 759px) 100vw, 759px" />Fogel, a teacher, was arrested in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport for carrying half an ounce of marijuana that was prescribed by an American doctor to treat his chronic back pain. (Photo: Courtesy)</div>
“The Biden administration worked overtime and traded bad people to get Brittney Griner back and I am glad she is home,” he said. “She is a high-profile liberal celebrity with the same political views as Biden. What is Marc? A teacher from western Pennsylvania. What is in it for Biden?”
Parnell added that Biden has become “far too comfortable with leaving Americans behind,” referencing the messy withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the Americans taken hostage by Hamas.
“Leaving Marc behind is just par for the course for Biden,” Parnell said.
“Trump saying something on that stage would make a difference — even if he is not president — because Putin would’ve heard about it in two hours,” Parnell added. “His words have power, so it meant a hell of a lot to her.”
After three years of silence from the Biden administration, Iseman expressed that Vogel having Trump&#8217;s promise and two congressmen risking their lives to save her finally made her feel heard.

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