Exclusive: Pittsburgh — A Pittsburgh lawyer representing two men injured in the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump is seeking accountability after they suffered life-changing injuries.
James Copenhaver, 74, and David Duch, 57, were shot twice during the rally and seriously injured.
“Someday, that [congressional] “We're going to pursue our investigation, whether that be through a special investigative team or whether we have to file a lawsuit, and we're sure we'll get answers through that process,” attorney Joseph Feldman of the Law Offices of Max C. Feldman told Fox News Digital on Monday, saying his firm is exploring “a variety of avenues” to seek accountability for the shooting that changed his client's life forever.
“We are limited in our ability to conduct a thorough investigation, but we will find out in due course.”
Feldman said both Copenhaver and Duch are recovering from their injuries at home with their families and have had “some setbacks” but are “on the road to recovery.”
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Attorney Joseph Feldman is seeking to hold accountable James Copenhaver and David Duch, who were seriously injured in the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Trump. (Adam Gray for Fox News Digital)
The two victims question how the gunman, Thomas Crooks, was able to climb to the roof of the nearby, single-story American Glass Research (AGR) building and shoot Trump about 150 yards from the candidate's podium, near the rally but not technically within the official perimeter.
“[W]”We are the United States of America,” Feldman said, “and we put a lot of our security resources into this country, especially in our dealings with the federal government. And when we go to rallies to provide political support to politicians … security is provided by the federal government, and it doesn't work.”
“I think the biggest question for them is, how did this happen?”
Copenhaver and Duch also question how Crooks was able to park his car and fly a drone about 200 yards away from where the former president was scheduled to speak that afternoon, between 3:50 and 4:00 p.m. FBI Director Christopher Wray At a congressional hearing on July 17, Crooks testified that he was at the rally for about 70 minutes on the morning of the assassination attempt.
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David Duch walked out of a Trump rally with serious gunshot wounds. (Facebook/Beaver County Republican Committee)
James Copenhaver was shot during an assassination attempt on the former president at a Trump rally in Butler and suffered “life-changing injuries.” (Handouts for families)
“Why isn't the airspace closed? Or why doesn't the federal government fly its own drones to monitor the area and know exactly who is coming and going days in advance?” asked Feldman, who served in the U.S. Army for seven years, including about a year in Afghanistan.
Questions also remain about who Crooks is, “what's on his phone, how he got access to these firearms and weapons, how he got access to the explosive devices?”
“[A]The country lacks such security measures and this shooter appears to have simply slipped through the cracks.”
Feldman reflected on his experience in the U.S. military.
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Feldman reflected on his own experience in the U.S. military as he recounted the July 13 assassination attempt on President Trump and how the gunman, Thomas Crooks, was able to gain access on a nearby rooftop. (Adam Gray for Fox News Digital)
“Not everything you say to higher-ups goes straight to the top. Sometimes you know something is going on but you can't do anything about it or you know the orders aren't there. So, I'm interested,” Feldman said. “I just served in Afghanistan for about a year and flew hundreds of thousands of mission miles, and nobody's ever been that close to you.”
The House task force has investigated how 20-year-old Crooks Climb HVAC equipment and ductwork He went to the roof of the AGR building and hid there until firing began at about 6:11 pm.
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A map detailing points of interest related to the investigation into the attempted assassination of former President Trump by Thomas Crooks on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Courtesy of Senator Chuck Grassley)
The FBI said at a July press conference that Crooks was carrying a DPMS AR-15-style gun with a folding stock when he entered the Butler Farm Show, where Trump was holding a campaign rally.
The Trump campaign announced the Butler rally on July 3. Crooks signed up for the rally three days later, on July 6, the same day he investigated how far Lee Harvey Oswald was from President Kennedy when he assassinated him in 1963. According to the FBI, Crooks went to the rally site on July 7 and spent about 20 minutes in the area.
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Crooks began taking shooting lessons in 2023 and in the spring of 2023, he purchased 25 guns online using a false name, the suit states.
Thomas Crooks attends a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. (Senator Ron Johnson)
Crooks' father legally purchased the AR-15-style rifle used by Crooks at the rally and legally transferred it to his son, and Crooks also legally purchased 50 rounds of ammunition from a local gun store the morning of the rally.
Video taken from the perspective of the victim of the Trump assassination attempt shows a figure moving across a rooftop moments before the shooting
Rally attendees previously told Fox News Digital that people were pointing at a person on the roof of AGR before the shooting began. Video shared exclusively with Fox News Digital from Copenhaver's vantage point at the rally shows what appears to be a person walking across the roof of the AGR building just three minutes before Crooks began firing.
Check out James Copenhaver's perspective:
“How can you get on a roof in a field with people screaming that someone is on the roof and a sniper next to you and you don't see the perpetrator until you fire the first bullet? That's their job. That's why they're there. The Secret Service is not there to listen to Donald Trump speeches or statistics on immigration,” Feldman said.
“We saw it on video. We were all looking down at Thomas Crooks walking across the roof. The shooters were positioned lower.”
According to Congress and the FBI, authorities first reported seeing a suspicious person near the rally at least an hour before Crooks began shooting. Local police notified command and received confirmation that the Secret Service was aware of the suspicious person's presence.
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Former President Trump was injured at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
It remains unclear how Crooks managed to evade security despite being spotted by police more than an hour before shots rang out, but the FBI said more than 300 agents and agents were working “around the clock” to gather facts and put together a clearer timeline of Crooks' actions.
Investigators said they found eight bullets on the roof where Crooks opened fire.
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Trump took the podium at around 6 p.m., an hour after he was scheduled to speak. Eleven minutes later, The crook fired multiple bullets.Corey Comperatore, 50, is a husband and father of two daughters who served as fire chief for the Buffalo Township Fire Department.
FBI officials said they were investigating whether Crooks had a motive for the assassination attempt and whether he had any co-conspirators, but said they had no evidence to suggest anyone else was involved.
