BUTLER, Pa. – The Fraternal Order of Police is taking issue with the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) response to the attempted assassination against former President Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday evening.
“All of us want answers to our questions. There was, as Secretary Mayorkas said earlier, a security failure—one that nearly cost former President Trump his life,” FOP President Patrick Yoes said in a statement. “All of us in law enforcement can agree that the roof of the building should have been secured by law enforcement. It clearly was not. Nonetheless, we must recognize the extraordinary heroism of the Secret Service agents and other officers on the scene who saved the life of their protectee.”
Yoes’ comments come as the USSS faces national backlash for its security during the Trump rally that left 50-year-old Corey Comperatore dead after he was shot while protecting his wife and daughters from gunfire. Two others, 57-year-old David Dutch of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, and 74-year-old James Copenhaver of Moon Township, Pennsylvania, are critically wounded.
While many locals and rally attendees who spoke with Fox News Digital are thankful Trump is still alive, they are devastated that Comperatore was killed and still asking questions about how gunman Thomas Crooks was able to get on the rooftop of a nearby building and shoot toward the former president.
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Police snipers return fire after shots were fired while Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump was speaking at a campaign event in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
The FOP noted that while information about the shooting is still developing, Crooks was still able to reach a position with a direct line of sight toward Trump, who is protected by the USSS.
“We must remember that the law enforcement mission is a shared mission and law enforcement at every level routinely cooperates and collaborates with one another,” Yoes continued. “More than 90% of U.S. law enforcement are [s]tate and local officers. They would not be as effective at their jobs without the support of the Federal colleagues, and our Federal partners would be unable to perform their functions without the assistance of State and local agencies.”
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)
Yoes added that suggestions made to media that local law enforcement agencies should not assist the USSS at events like a presidential campaign rally “do not know what they are talking about.”
“State and local agencies may wonder if they can rely on the Secret Service.”
“From a law enforcement and security standpoint, the coming election will be an extraordinary challenge for the Secret Service. They will be advancing and planning security for the candidates at sites all across the nation for the next four and a half months. In making and executing these plans to protect the candidates, they will need to rely on State and local law enforcement to ensure the protection mission is successful,” Yoes said.
“Yet, in the wake of some of the anonymous comments from unknown officials, State and local agencies may wonder if they can rely on the Secret Service. I am concerned that anonymous statements or media speculation could have a chilling effect on the ability of Federal, State, and local law enforcement to work together through what will certainly be a grueling campaign.”
A Secret Service member and members of the crowd are seen at Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump’s rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Yoes also noted that President Biden has ordered an independent investigation into the assassination attempt with support from the Department of Homeland Security. Congress has also initiated their own investigation of the shooting.
“This is a failure at the management or command level who failed to secure an obvious weakness in the security of this event.”
“Whatever happened in Butler, this was not a failure of the local, State, or Federal officers on the ground who responded to the shots fired at former President Trump, they acted heroically and put their lives on the line to protect everyone else at the event. We must recognize that,” Yoes said. “This is a failure at the management or command level who failed to secure an obvious weakness in the security of this event. The shooter should never have had access to the roof from which he made his attack. Whether the plan or the execution failed will come to light, but in the meantime law enforcement still has a job to do.”
A drone view during the police investigation into gunfire at a campaign rally of Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S. July 14, 2024. (Carlos Osorio/Reuters)
An unnamed Secret Service spokesperson told CNN that the agency did not check the roof of the building where the shooter was lying with a rifle, but they did learn that local law enforcement was apparently tasked with sweeping that building for threats. He added that local officers were supposed to be stationed in that area but were not, according to the outlet.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle released a statement Monday extending her “deepest condolences to the family and friends of Corey Comperatore, who was killed during the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday, as well as those who were injured during this senseless act of violence.”
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Law enforcement officers move during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“Secret Service personnel on the ground moved quickly during the incident, with our counter sniper team neutralizing the shooter and our agents implementing protective measures to ensure the safety of former president Donald Trump,” Cheatle said.
She continued: “The Secret Service is working with all involved Federal, state and local agencies to understand what happened, how it happened, and how we can prevent an incident like this from ever taking place again. We understand the importance of the independent review announced by President Biden yesterday and will participate fully. We will also work with the appropriate Congressional committees on any oversight action.”
