The two men seriously injured in the July 13 assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump accused the Secret Service of “negligence” Monday in their first public comments since the rally shooting.
James Copenhaver, 74, and David Dutch, 57, sustained critical wounds after they were both shot twice at the Butler, Pa., Trump rally, during which a bullet also grazed the former president’s ear.
Firefighter Corey Comperatore, 50, was killed as he shielded his family from the sniper’s shots.
“I believe there was 100% negligence on the Secret Service, probably everybody involved in setting that security, down to inter-department communications,” Dutch told NBC News. “The negligence was vast. It was terrible.”
When asked if the Secret Service failed to protect Trump, 78, and rally-goers at the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds, Dutch responded: “Big time.”
“The whole security setup was poor,” he added.
Copenhaver agreed with Dutch’s assessment.
“I’m sure there was negligence,” he said. “It wouldn’t have happened, had it been secure.”
Lawyers for Dutch and Copenhaver intend to file a lawsuit after they conclude an investigation into the parties potentially responsible for the tragedy.
A Senate probe into the shooting determined last month that would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks’ attempt to kill Trump was “foreseeable” and “preventable” and the result of “failures in planning, communications, security, and allocation of resources” by the Secret Service.
Crooks, 20, had been at the rally site for about 70 minutes on the morning of the assassination attempt. He was able to fly a drone over the fairgrounds before Trump’s arrival and at least eight Secret Service agents were made aware of a “suspicious” person with a rangefinder — later identified as Crooks — nearly a half-hour before the shooting.
Dutch told NBC News that during the shooting he was “angry” about the security lapses and that the sniper “tried to shoot the president, shot into a defenseless crowd.”
“I was just angry that the whole situation even happened,” Dutch said. “It should have never happened.”
Dutch, who was shot in the liver by Crooks, said the bullet’s impact felt “like getting hit with a sledgehammer right in the chest.”
He noted that he could see metal and chunks of the bleacher “flying all around” until the shooting ceased.
“It’s a struggle every day,” Dutch said of the ongoing health problems he has as a result of the shooting, which include not being able to drive or lift more than 10 pounds.
Copenhaver, who was shot in the tricep and abdomen, said he knew something was wrong when he saw a piece of his sleeve rip away from his shirt.
“I turned around to my friend, and I said, ‘I think I was shot,’ and that’s when I got the second one and then I went down,” he said.
Copenhaver said he has lost 30 pounds, still occasionally has pain in his abdomen and must walk with a cane since the shooting.
Crooks was shot and killed by a Secret Service agent moments after he opened fire.
