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topicnews · October 15, 2024

Men who were shot during the Trump assassination attempt accuse the Secret Service of “negligence.”

Men who were shot during the Trump assassination attempt accuse the Secret Service of “negligence.”

Two men injured in the shooting at former President Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania in July are speaking out, claiming the Secret Service was responsible for “negligence” and security failures surrounding the attack.

“I believe that the Secret Service was 100 percent negligent, probably everyone involved in setting up that security, right down to the interdepartmental communications,” said David Dutch, one of the two men killed in the incident on March 13. July was shot dead in an interview with Tom Llamas of NBC News Monday.

The other man, Jim Copenhaver, said he was “certain there was negligence,” the outlet reported.

“This wouldn’t have happened if it was safe,” Copenhaver added.

An internal Secret Service review found “multiple operational and communications errors” by the agency before the Trump assassination attempt. Early findings pointed to gaps in planning, including an unclear chain of command between agents and local law enforcement partners at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, as well as officers’ lack of ability to easily communicate over different radio frequencies.

According to NBC News, Copenhaver suffered injuries to his triceps and abdomen, and Dutch’s liver was injured in the shooting.

“It was like being hit right in the chest with a sledgehammer,” Dutch said in the interview.

Trump visited Butler again earlier this month for another campaign event at the same location. During the event, the former president paid tribute to those injured in the July shooting, paying special tribute to the late Corey Comperatore, who was killed in the shooting.

“Corey isn’t with us tonight, and he shouldn’t be. He’s become something of a folk hero, I have to tell you,” Trump said.

The Secret Service has been under intense scrutiny since the shooting, in which a bullet grazed the Republican candidate’s ear.

Trump has since faced a second apparent assassination attempt; Last month, a man was arrested and charged for shoving the front of his rifle into the side of the former president’s golf course in Florida. The incident prompted the House and Senate to pass legislation to strengthen Trump’s protections as the race for the White House entered its final weeks.

NBC reported that lawyers for Dutch and Copenhaver are in the early stages of drafting a possible lawsuit.

When reached for comment, the Secret Service said, “We do not comment on pending or planned litigation.”

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