This was a gigantic communication FAIL. The bipartisan House Task Force released its report on the Butler, PA assassination attempt on President Trump. One detail shows how badly the security lapses were. The Secret Service had no idea the Butler shooter was armed.

The assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally in July was “preventable and should not have happened,” according to a bipartisan House panel that is investigating the shooting and what it calls the “stunning security failures” at the event.

The report from a House task force, released Monday, is just the latest look at the cascading and wide-ranging law enforcement failings that preceded the July 13 shooting at the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally where Trump was struck in the ear by gunfire. One rallygoer was killed in the shooting and two others were wounded.

Leave it to TIME to refuse to name Corey Comperatore, David Dutch, and James Copenhaver. As we’ve written here, Corey was killed that day and President Trump has honored his memory at the RNC Convention as well as at the 2nd Butler PA rally earlier this month. 

David Dutch and James Copenhaver are recovering, but will live with the medical issues stemming from the attack for the rest of their lives. They too, are NOT fans of the Secret Service failures. 

Both men, Jim Copenhaver, 74, and David Dutch, 57, told NBC News in an interview that they believe the Secret Service was negligent in its duties that fateful day.

“I believe there was 100 percent negligence on the Secret Service, probably everybody involved in setting that security, down to inter-department communications,” Dutch said. “The negligence was vast. It was terrible.”

“I’m sure there was negligence,” Copenhaver concurred. “It wouldn’t have happened, had it been secure.”

When directly asked whether the Secret Service failed him and Trump, Dutch replied, “Big time!”

“The whole security setup was poor,” he added.

There was a communication and coordination fail on all fronts. The Secret Service is tasked with ensuring FULL protection of their principal, which includes events such as rallies in Butler or Aurora, CO, operating as a fry cook at McDonalds, the Al Smith Dinner, and so on- the Secret Service must be in full coordination and communication with ALL the local agencies. 

It’s becoming clearer that did not happen. At all. The AGR complex was designated BY the Secret Service as outside the security perimeter, which is infuriating because Acting Director Rowe explicitly stated during his testimony that controlling the high ground is a standard rule! Local agencies pushed back on that assertion as testimony by Patrolman Drew Blasko shows:

I did share my concerns with the agents, from my understanding that were in charge of the site that day. I explained to them that the snipers inside that building were over watching the venue itself, and that the whole area, specifically the area leading up from the water tower, we had no vantage point from. We could see part of the building that was – -that Crooks was on, but we had no access or line of sight I should say, to that area. [Emphasis added] And I asked the Secret Service that we do not have the additional manpower to post anybody there. And I requested additional people to be posted there so there would be no access to the grounds.

The response from the Secret Service? ‘They’d take care of it.’ As testimony further shows, the walk-through was completely disorganized, and there was NOT a unified briefing before the event. 

Most egregiously, because the communication was….lacking, the Secret Service was completely unaware that the Butler shooter was ARMED. As this report shows, local agencies knew for nearly an HOUR that the Butler shooter (I refuse to use his name) was wandering the grounds, checking things out with a range finder, and generally sending alarm bells ringing by every LEO who encountered him. 

Then, over the course of 13 minutes, from 5:38 to 5:51, local law enforcement officers and their bosses sent a series of calls and messages about Crooks’ description and movements to several members of the Secret Service, including to a USSS agent at their command post, which was separate from a different command post for state and local law enforcement.

~Snip

Shortly afterward, a Butler Township police officer radioed to all officers in the area that “someone’s on the roof,” and many local officers converged on the AGR building. At 6:09 p.m., Lenz called the Pennsylvania State Police officer in the Secret Service Command Center to update him that a suspicious person was now on the roof of the AGR complex.

The local and state agencies KNEW the Butler shooter was a problem. They realized in enough time to PREVENT the shooting (he fired eight rounds in all), and yet somehow the Secret Service was in the dark?

This is flat out infuriating. Patrolman Blasko immediately communicated the issue directly to the Secret Service agent who was standing RIGHT beside him! A PA State police officer received info and immediately communicated that to the Secret Service agent he was standing right beside. They were both IN the command post. (pages 34-39 of the report)

This was a communication fail on the part of the Secret Service. They KNEW there was an issue and didn’t delay the rally. 

Cheatle should not have been allowed to resign from her job. The agents on leave who were there that day should be fired.

Today, @TFAADJT released our interim staff report, revealing the blatant lack of coordination by the Secret Service to properly secure the event on July 13th in Butler, PA.

These security failures cost an American his life and nearly cost President Trump his. https://t.co/nu4jSX3WyC

— Dave Joyce (@RepDaveJoyce) October 21, 2024

The lack of accountability with an agency whose ONLY job is to keep Presidents, Vice Presidents, and high profile dignitaries safe cannot and must not be allowed to stand. 

Feature Photo Credit: video screenshot of live event via media and AP specifically, editorial use only, cropped and modified