Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held a hearing yesterday to examine alleged security failures that led to the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

Committee Chair, Democratic U.S. Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, convened the hearing, saying there are still many unanswered questions and they want to generate answers and real reforms. It was a joint hearing with the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.

The hearing featured testimony from U.S. Secret Service and Federal Bureau of Investigation officials on the attempted assassination of the former president at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13th - an attack that took the life of Corey Comperatore and injured two other attendees – David Dutch and James Copenhaver.

Witnesses outlined the security procedures that were in place at the event, provided new information about the security failures that contributed to the attack and the shooter’s actions in the lead-up to and on the day of the attack, and highlighted what protocols must change to ensure an attack like this can never happen again.

The hearing, part of a bi-partisan investigation into security and planning failures in advance of the assassination attempt, resulted in calls for increased transparency to people about what went wrong.

Peters stated" “Let me be clear – this was an attack on our democracy. Americans should be able to attend a political rally and express their political beliefs without fear of violence. And political candidates for our nation’s highest office should be confident that their safety will never be compromised for their service. Although we are still learning about the shooter’s motive, this attack was a shocking reminder that the threat of political violence is alive and well in our country. By all accounts, this was an inexcusable security and planning failure – and we need to get all of the facts about what happened that day and how we can ensure an attack like this is never allowed to happen again.”

During the hearing, Peters and witnesses discussed reforms that are needed to strengthen security protocols within the U.S. Secret Service. They also reviewed information regarding what went wrong that afternoon and discussed how the attack unfolded.

Ronald L. Rowe, Jr, Acting Director of the U.S. Secret Service, discussed the U.S. Secret Service’s planning efforts before the attack and the communications protocols that were used as the event unfolded.

Paul Abbate, Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, discussed what the FBI has learned to date about the shooter’s planning and activities.

The following is from the Associated Press, a link to the full article is provided.

Rowe told lawmakers he considered it indefensible that the roof used by the gunman in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump was unsecured and said it was regrettable that local law enforcement had not communicated to his agency that a gunman had been spotted on a nearby roof.

Rowe also testified that he recently visited the shooting site and laid down on the roof of the building where shots were fired in order to evaluate the gunman's line of sight during the July 13 shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“What I saw made me ashamed. As a career law enforcement officer and a 25-year Secret Service veteran, I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured," he said.

The testimony was the most detailed catalog to date by the Secret Service of law enforcement failings and miscommunications, with Rowe accepting blame for his own agency's mistakes while also pointedly criticizing local law enforcement for communication breakdowns that resulted in his agency not sharing information that a gunman, later identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, had been spotted on the roof of a building less than 150 yards from the rally stage where Trump was speaking.

“Neither the Secret Service counter sniper teams nor members of the former president’s security detail had any knowledge that there was a man on the roof of the building with a firearm,” Rowe said. “It is my understanding those personnel were not aware the assailant had a firearm until they heard gunshots.”

He said that the shooting amounted to a “failure on multiple levels,” including a failure of imagination and a “failure to challenge our assumptions.”

“We assumed that the state and locals had it,” Rowe said. “We made an assumption that there was going to be uniformed presence out there, that there would be sufficient eyes to cover that, that there was going to be counter-sniper teams” in the building from whose roof Crooks fired shots.

“And I can assure you,” Rowe added, "that we’re not going to make that mistake again.” He said he had implemented multiple reforms since taking over as acting director last week, including mandating that every event security plan is vetted by multiple experienced supervisors before being implemented, expanding the use of aerial drones to improve visibility of roofs and dedicating more resources to improve communications at events where the Secret Service is operating.