Butler, Pennsylvania – Republican Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee said local Pennsylvania police told lawmakers they were not allowed access to the Secret Service command center at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, along with other bipartisan members of his committee, on Monday morning toured the area of the Butler Farm Show where 20-year-old Thomas Crooks plotted to assassinate President Trump more than a week ago.
“The local sheriff told me that in the past, the Secret Service has handled these incidents and one of their deputies has always been in the Secret Service control room. Apparently for some reason that wasn’t allowed this time,” Greene told Fox News Digital on Monday, after touring the scene, which has been closed to the public since July 13.
Green, an Army veteran, said this was an example of a lack of communication between local and federal police, adding that lawmakers were also trying to get more information about the radios police used to communicate on the day of the rally.
Trump shooting: A timeline of the assassination attempt
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark E. Green (R-Tenn.) holds a press conference with fellow House members at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Monday, July 22, 2024. The bipartisan delegation toured the site of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally last week that left one attendee dead and two injured. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
Paul Mauro, a Fox News legal and crime analyst and former NYPD commander, told Fox News Digital that the command center is typically a place where representatives from all law enforcement agencies involved in securing an incident convene to streamline communication between the agencies.
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives arrive at the Butler Agricultural Show, Monday, July 22, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
Mauro explained that the highest-ranking officials from each agency are typically stationed in the command center “because decisions have to be made, and sometimes they’re difficult decisions.” “The person who has the final say on everything is usually the head of the Secret Service,” he said.
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives tour the Butler Agricultural Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Monday, July 22, 2024. The bipartisan delegation visited the site of an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally last week that left one attendee dead and two injured. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
During President Trump’s rally in Butler, the command center was set up inside a tent.
The Secret Service, Butler County Sheriff’s Office and Butler Police Department did not immediately respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital, while Pennsylvania State Police declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
U.S. Congressmen tour the Butler Farm Show on Monday, July 22, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
The Tennessee Republican said the committee’s next step is to “compile the questions posed by all committee members during Monday’s tour of the convention site in preparation for committee interviews.”
“This was a terrible mistake.”
At a news conference after the Homeland Security committee tour, Greene said several lawmakers were able to climb onto the roof where Crooks fired the shots without any equipment, and that a water tower overlooking the rally had never been used by police for security purposes.
Trump shooting scene offers bird’s-eye view of ‘chaotic’ rally, witness says
On July 22, 2024, lawmakers visited the scene of the Trump rally shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Republican Pennsylvania Rep. Mark Kelly, a member of the House of Representatives from the area, was commenting on reports lawmakers had heard that police had noticed a suspicious presence about an hour before Trump took the stage on July 13.
“If there was any belief that there was a suspicious individual here, why did we allow President Trump to come up to the podium … and why did we allow the show to go on,” he told Fox News Digital. “Having watched the president fall, and watching over his left shoulder as Corey fell, I can tell you it was a terrible day for the American people, and then several other men who were sitting across from the president were shot dead. It was a bad day for America.”
Watch Rep. Mike Kelly after touring the rally:
Greene and other lawmakers are calling for the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle after Crooks opened fire at the rally, slicing President Trump’s ear and killing 50-year-old attendee, husband, father and former Buffalo Township Fire Chief Corey Comperatore. The shooting also seriously injured David Duch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74, who are currently in stable condition.
Trump assassination attempt: Butler, Pennsylvania mayor defends police amid ‘misinterpreted’ response
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives tour the Butler Agricultural Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Monday, July 22, 2024. The bipartisan delegation visited the site of an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally last week that left one attendee dead and two injured. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
Cheatle was questioned by members of the House Oversight Committee on Monday. At one point, Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., asked Cheatle after Monday’s hearing if he was “open to firing people who are making bad decisions in the field.”
The embattled leader of the U.S. Secret Service has pledged to cooperate with any investigations into the agency following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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The director of the Secret Service said he did not have answers to Moskowitz’s questions.
Federal law enforcement is still trying to determine Crooks’ motive for shooting the former president.
