U.S. House Report: “Stunning security failures” led to Trump assassination attempt

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

A U.S. House panel with members of both political parties has released its initial findings into the assassination attempt against former President Trump in Pennsylvania.

The shooting at Trump’s rally in July was “preventable and should not have happened.”

The bipartisan House panel says “stunning security failures” preceded the assassination attempt against Trump.

The task force released its initial findings today.

Lawmakers in their report focus on “the fragmented lines of communication and unclear chains of command” between Secret Service and Pennsylvania state and local police. But they place the majority of the blame on the Secret Service for the security breakdown.

Trump was wounded in the ear, one rally attendee was killed and two other attendees were injured after investigators say 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks climbed atop the roof of a nearby building and opened fire with an AR-style rifle shortly after Trump started speaking at the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Before the shooting, local law enforcement had noticed Crooks pacing around the edges of the rally, peering into the lens of a rangefinder toward the rooftops behind the stage where the president later stood, officials have told The Associated Press. An image of Crooks was circulated by officers stationed outside the security perimeter.

Witnesses later saw him climbing up the side of a squat manufacturing building that was within 157 yards of the stage. He then set up his rifle and lay on the rooftop, a detonator in his pocket to set off crude explosive devices that were stashed in his car parked nearby.

Secret Service agents fatally shot Crooks.

The attack on Trump was the most serious attempt to assassinate a president or presidential candidate since Reagan was shot in 1981. It was the latest in a series of security lapses by the agency that has drawn investigations and public scrutiny over the years.

(Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)