AP photo
Patrick Yoes, National President, Fraternal Order of Police, right, listens as Colonel Christopher L. Paris, Commissioner, Pennsylvania State Police, left, responds to questions during a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing examining the assassination attempt of July 13, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday.
State House leaders are proposing a state probe into the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
The resolution was formally introduced Tuesday in the state House of Representatives by Rep. Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster and House Republican leader. The resolution would form a House Select Committee to probe the actions and response of state and local law enforcement relative to the assassination attempt on Trump on July 13 in Butler. Federal lawmakers are investigating the incident as well, and Kimberly Cheatle has resigned as director of the U.S. Secret Service.
Cutler said the Select Committee on the Trump Assassination Attempt would include three Republicans and three Democrats, with the committee’s chairperson selected by the Speaker of the House. Its focus would be to investigate how state and local law enforcement planned, responded and coordinated with federal agencies at the Trump campaign event on July 13. A report from the select committee would be due no later than Nov. 30.
“One Pennsylvanian died and two were critically wounded as an assassin nearly took the life of a former president and the nominee of a major political party in the upcoming election. We must ask the questions of why and what we can do to prevent this from happening in the future,” Cutler said. “Pennsylvania is a political battleground state that will be the epicenter of many high-level campaign events during the remainder of the 2024 election season. As federal law enforcement increasingly relies on state and local partners to supplement security protocols, it is imperative we identify what happened from a state and local perspective on July 13, as we seek to perfect our effectiveness at keeping citizens and candidates safe as they host campaign events in Pennsylvania.”
The Select Committee would have legal authority to send for individuals and papers and subpoena witnesses and documents, including electronically stored information, and any other materials. It would be able to hear from witnesses, take testimony, conduct interviews, prepare and file pleadings and other legal documents and emply counsel and staff.
In addition to dealing with the aftermath of the attempted Trump assassination, the Select Committee would be asked to identify any necessary operational changes needed for state and local law enforcement to provide security support in such events. The select committee would be charged to work with state and local agency partners to identify how best practices can be updated, implemented, and successfully deployed across law enforcement entities to ensure the safety and security of the public and highly visible individuals visiting Pennsylvania.
“The purpose of this committee is not to assign blame, but rather give state and local law enforcement a voice so we can collectively identify what happened and learn to improve upon current practices,” Cutler said. “Government is charged with protecting the health, safety and welfare of the citizens. As more high-profile events are coming to the commonwealth in the coming months, we must use this undeniable tragedy to learn from our current practices, understand how we can get better, and take the necessary steps to ensure this does not happen in Pennsylvania again.”
In federal testimony Tuesday, Pennsylvania State Police Col. Christopher Paris told a congressional committee that two Butler County Emergency Services Unit officers were stationed at a second-floor window in the complex of buildings that form AGR International Inc. They spotted Thomas Matthew Crooks acting suspiciously on the ground and left their post to look for him along with other law enforcement officers, he said.
Paris said he didn’t know whether officers would have been able to see Crooks climbing onto the roof of an adjacent building had they remained at the window. A video taken by a lawmaker who visited the shooting site on Monday shows a second-story window of the building had a clear view of the roof where Crooks opened fire; it was unclear if the video showed the window where the officers had been stationed.
The Pennsylvania State Police commissioner’s testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee provides new insight into security preparations for the Trump rally in Butler on July 13, but raises further questions about law enforcement’s decisions before Crooks opened fire.
Local law enforcement began to search for Crooks after they noticed him acting strangely and saw him with a rangefinder, a small device resembling binoculars that hunters use to measure distance from a target. Officers didn’t find him around the building and a local officer climbed up to the roof to investigate. The gunman turned and pointed his rifle at him. The officer did not — or could not — fire a single shot. Crooks opened fire toward the former president seconds later, officials have said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.