WASHINGTON – The Secret Service failed to properly plan and coordinate with local law enforcement in advance at former President Donald Trump’s July 13 campaign rally, where he was shotn moment conspiracy trysays a new report.
interim report by A House task force is investigating the attempt hen his life that day It says the information obtained by lawmakers in the first phase of the investigation “clearly demonstrates a lack of planning and coordination between the Secret Service and its law enforcement partners prior to the rally.”
The findings are based on 23 transcribed interviews with local law enforcement agencies, thousands of pages of documents and testimony from the task force’s public hearing in September, the bipartisan panel said.
On the day rallythe task force said that “federal, state and local law enforcement officials could have engaged Thomas Matthew Crooks at several key points.” , eventually climbed onto the roof of the AGR compound and fired eight shots into the rally stage and crowd, killing a rally attendee and injuring three others, including former President Trump.
A Butler Township Police Department officer told the task force that he was helped onto the roof of the AGR complex by another officer and saw the shooter with a handgun, Crooks “pointing his firearm in my face” and a book bag and gun magazines. He said he fell to the ground and immediately radioed that the suspect on the roof was armed.
Helping his colleague to the roof, the officer told the task force, “I’m trying to get him up to the roof. It’s kind of on the side, but it’s there. He comes back yelling, “AR IS HERE! NOW! THE BOY WHO WAS AR!”
“To date, the Task Force has found no evidence that the message reached the former president’s USSS detail before it was fired,” the task force report said.
“Crooks was contained by Secret Service state and local partners for approximately 40 minutes before information about the shooter reached the Secret Service command post,” the task force said.
The Secret Service did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
The report detailed a lack of coordination between law enforcement agencies before the rally on the morning of July 13. The Butler County Division of Emergency Services held its own briefing, as did the Butler Township Police Department, but “the Secret Service did not attend either briefing,” the task force said. There was no broader briefing between the Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies, the task force said.
The task force said it is still in the process of conducting more than 20 transcribed interviews of federal officials and others who may have more information about what happened on July 13. He is also investigating an assassination attempt against Trump at a golf course in West Palm Beach. Florida, Florida on September 15. The panel requested information and records from the Secret Service, the FBI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.