Trump rally shooting survivors blame Secret Service for Butler assassination attempt: 100% negligence

The two men seriously injured in the July 13 assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump accused the Secret Service of “negligence” Monday in their first public comments since the rally shooting. James Copenhaver, 74, and David Dutch, 57, sustained critical wounds after they were both shot twice at the Butler, Pa., Trump rally, during which a bullet also grazed the former president’s ear. Firefighter Corey Comperatore, 50, was killed as he shielded his family from the sniper’s shots. “I believe there was 100% negligence on the Secret Service, probably everybody involved in setting that security, down to inter-department communications,” Dutch told NBC News.“The negligence was vast.

It was terrible.”When asked if the Secret Service failed to protect Trump, 78, and rally-goers at the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds, Dutch responded: “Big time.”“The whole security setup was poor,” he added.Copenhaver agreed with Dutch’s assessment.“I’m sure there was negligence,” he said.“It wouldn’t have happened, had it been secure.” Lawyers for Dutch and Copenhaver intend to file a lawsuit after they conclude an investigation into the parties potentially responsible for the tragedy.  A Senate probe into the shooting determined last month that would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks’ attempt to kill Trump was “foreseeable” and “preventable” and the result of “failures in planning, communications, security, and allocation of resources” by the Secret Service. Crooks, 20, had been at the rally site for about 70 minutes on the morning of the assassination attempt.

He was able to fly a drone over the fairgrounds before Trump’s arrival and at least eight Secret Service agents were made aware of a “suspicious” person with a rangefinder — later identified as Crooks — nearly a half-hour before the shooting. Dutch told NBC News that during the shooting he was “angry” about the security lapses and that the ...