What They Are Saying: House Homeland Members, Rep. Kelly Visit Site of Assassination Attempt Against Former President Trump
July 24, 2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) led a bipartisan delegation of Committee members to the site of the July 13 Trump campaign rally and the failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life. Joined by Congressman Mike Kelly (R-PA), the members toured the grounds and examined the roof used by the shooter. The site visit and briefing from local officials, law enforcement, and witnesses provided Members with a closer look at the magnitude of the security failures, and furthered the Committee’s oversight efforts.
This visit follows Chairman Green’s subpoena of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for documents and information regarding the July 13 rally. The subpoena was issued after DHS failed to fulfill a document request from July 14.
Here’s what the media is saying about the visit:
Fox News via Special Report with Bret Baier
NewsNation via NewsNation Now with Connell McShane
“The chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, along with other bipartisan members of the committee, on Monday morning toured the Butler Farm Show grounds area where 20-year-old Thomas Crooks attempted to assassinate Trump over a week ago.
“The Republican Tennessee legislator said the committee’s next steps are to “synthesize all the members’ questions from” Monday’s tour of the rally site “and prepare for our interviews in the committee.
“During a media availability after the Homeland Security Committee tour, Green said some members of Congress were able to climb onto the roof that Crooks shot from without any kind of equipment. He also said a water tower that overlooks the rally site was never utilized by law enforcement for security purposes.”
“A group of Republican lawmakers visited Butler, Pennsylvania, to get a first-hand look at the scene of former President Donald Trump’s attempted assassination.
“House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green led the trip Monday as part of a bipartisan investigation into how the gunman was able to gain access to the rooftop he shot at Trump from, saying the investigation has revealed some discrepancies between local and federal law enforcement.”
“Members of the House Homeland Security Committee said they came looking for answers, but said it may have raised even more questions about the incident.
“A caravan of committee members wended onto the grounds and began inspecting the sites in question. Some even went on the roof of the building where Crooks shot and wounded the former president.”
“Several members of the bipartisan congressional delegation who visited the site of the failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump said they toured the rooftop where the gunman shot at the former president.
“‘One thing is clear, is for sure; it’s way too close,’ Republican Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania said after touring the site in Butler, located in his home state.”
“Members of the House Homeland Security Committee announced Saturday they will visit the site of Trump’s July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-TX, will be joined by 10 members of the Homeland Security Committee for the visit Monday morning and there will be a media availability afterward.”
“During a visit Monday to the site of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, lawmakers climbed onto the roof used to open fire on the rally and later expressed deep doubts about official explanations for why Secret Service agents weren’t stationed there.
“Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has said agents weren’t put on the roof because the slope made it unsafe. But House Homeland Security members said they walked around on the roof Monday without difficulty.
“With questions still swirling about why warnings to local police about the suspect were slow to reach Secret Service personnel, Homeland Security Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.) said he learned Monday that local authorities were excluded from the Secret Service command posts for the July 13 rally, even though such officials had been granted that access at similar events in the past.”
“Republican Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona visited Butler, Pennsylvania, on Monday with a bipartisan group of lawmakers and raised several questions about the attempted assassination of former President Trump.
“Crane, a former Navy SEAL sniper, filmed himself on the rooftop from which Thomas Crooks shot at Trump with a rifle, wounding the Republican candidate’s ear, killing firefighter Corey Comperatore and injuring two other bystanders at Trump’s July 13 rally.”
“A top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee dismissed suggestions from U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle that the “sloped roof” of attempted assassin Thomas Crooks’ sniper nest precluded it from being properly secured.
“Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., was part of a bipartisan delegation of committee members who toured the Butler Farm Show Grounds on Monday, where members indeed scaled the same glass factory building Thomas Crooks did before he took aim at former President Trump last week.”
Peter Cordi via Washington Examiner
“House Republicans and Democrats descended on Butler, Pennsylvania, on Monday morning to tour the site of the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump and to inform the public about an investigation into the security failure that enabled the attack.
“Members of the House Homeland Security Committee were joined in Butler by Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), who was present during the shooting that killed one attendee, critically injured two others, and wounded Trump onstage.
“‘This Committee continues to seek answers from DHS and Secret Service for the security lapses’ that allowed the attack to happen, Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), committee chairman, said in a press release. He added that the members visited the site ‘to better understand how this near-assassination took place.’”
“Members of Congress traveled with the House Homeland Security Committee to the site of the near assassination to survey the scene as investigators from a handful of federal agencies continue their probe of the events leading up to the moment when the would-be assassin fired into the Trump rally — wounding Trump, killing attendee Corey Comperatore, and critically wounding two other rally goers.
“Noting his ability to get up on the roof used by the would-be assassin to shoot at Trump and his supporters as a 70-year-old, Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) said “anybody” would have been able to reach the vantage point — a swipe at Director Cheatle’s claim that Secret Service agents were unable to secure the roof because it was sloped.”
Bethany Blankley via The Center Square
“U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., called Monday for the immediate resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle for the agency’s failures on July 13, when an assassination attempt was made on former President Donald Trump’s life. A key reason Trump likely survived is because he turned his head at the time of impact, causing the bullet to graze his right ear.
“Also on Monday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Green toured the assassination attempt site in Butler, Penn., including going on the roof where the alleged shooter reportedly fired.”
Eddie Trizzino via Butler Eagle
“The July 13 rally for former President Donald Trump had ‘glaringly obvious’ security issues, members of the House Committee on Homeland Security said after touring the Butler Farm Show grounds Monday, July 22.
“Representatives on the committee got a firsthand look at not only the Butler Farm Show grounds, but also at the nearby rooftop where the 20-year-old Bethel Park man who shot at Trump was perched during the campaign rally.”
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