House Report:"Failures" Led to Shooting10/21 06:11

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- 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.

   Members of both the House and Senate have repeatedly questioned why the 
Secret Service, an agency tasked with protecting the country's top leaders, 
didn't do a better job communicating with local authorities during the campaign 
rally, particularly when it came to securing the building that was widely 
agreed to be a security threat but that ultimately was left so unprotected that 
gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks was able to climb up and shoot.

   Lawmakers in their report focus on "the fragmented lines of communication 
and unclear chains of command" between Secret Service and Pennsylvania state 
and local police but place the majority of the blame on the Secret Service for 
the security breakdown.

   "Federal, state, and local law enforcement officers could have engaged 
Thomas Matthew Crooks at several pivotal moments," the report stated. Lawmakers 
added that throughout the afternoon, "as Crooks's behavior became increasingly 
suspicious, fragmented lines of communication allowed Crooks to evade law 
enforcement" and climb onto the unsecured roof where he would eventually open 
fire.

   "Put simply, the evidence obtained by the Task Force to date shows the 
tragic and shocking events of July 13 were preventable and should not have 
happened," the report continued.

   The preliminary findings are drawn from thousands of pages of documents, 
nearly two dozen transcribed interviews with state and local officials as well 
as a series of both classified and non-classified briefings from senior 
officials at the Secret Service and the FBI.

   The report breaks little new ground, as the failed Secret Service response 
has been already documented by an independent commission, an interim Senate 
report as well as congressional testimony and news media investigations. The 
House report, like others before it, does not identify specific individuals who 
may be to blame.

   But The Associated Press has previously reported that at least five Secret 
Service agents have been placed on modified duty. The director of the Secret 
Service at the time, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned shortly after the shooting, 
saying she took full responsibility for the lapse.

   The task force -- comprised of seven Republicans and six Democrats -- 
showcased some of the report's findings during a public hearing last month. 
Lawmakers say they plan to issue a final report, including recommendations to 
avoid future assassination attempts against political candidates, by 
mid-December.

   The task force has also begun investigating the second assassination attempt 
on Trump last month where a man with a rifle camped outside one of his golf 
courses in southern Florida.