Two men injured in a shooting at former President Donald Trump's rally in Pennsylvania in July have spoken out, accusing the Secret Service of “negligence” and security deficiencies surrounding the assassination attempt. I am doing it.
“I think the Secret Service was 100 percent at fault,” said David Dutch, one of the two people shot and killed in the July 13 incident. All the way down to the communication between them,” he told NBC News' Tom Lamas. monday interview.
Another man, Jim Copenhaver, said, “There was definitely some negligence,” the newspaper reported.
Copenhaver added: “If it had been safe, this wouldn't have happened.”
An internal Secret Service investigation revealed “multiple operational and communications failures” by the agency prior to the attempt on President Trump's life. Initial findings included unclear chain of command between investigators and local law enforcement partners at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and a lack of ability to easily communicate across different radio frequencies. It showed that there was a gap in the plan.
Copenhaver suffered injuries to his triceps and abdomen, and Dutch suffered damage to his liver during the shooting, according to NBC News.
“It was like being hit in the chest with a sledgehammer,” Dutch said in an interview.
Trump visited Butler earlier this month for another campaign event at the same venue. At the ceremony, the former president recognized those injured in the July mass shooting and paid special tribute to the late Cory Comperatore, who was killed in the shooting.
“Cory isn't with us tonight and he's supposed to be. I have to say he's become kind of a national hero,” Trump said.
The Secret Service has been under intense scrutiny since the shooting that left a Republican candidate in the ear with a bullet.
Since then, Trump faces his second apparent assassination attempt. A man was arrested last month and charged with shoving the tip of a rifle around the former president's golf course in Florida. In the wake of the incident, the House and Senate passed legislation to strengthen protections for Mr. Trump as the White House election enters its final weeks.
NBC reported that Dutch and Copenhaver lawyers are in the early stages of preparing a potential lawsuit.
When asked for comment, the Secret Service said it “does not comment on pending or proposed litigation.”
