Two men who were shot at the Pennsylvania rally where a gunman tried to assassinate Donald Trump are suing the federal government.James Copenhaver and David Dutch alleged in separate but similar lawsuits filed Monday in the Western District of Pennsylvania that the U.S.Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were grossly negligent in their failure to secure the event premises in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The lawsuits specifically cite the AGR Complex roof used by the shooter, Thomas Crooks.The lawsuits name the United States government as the defendant, and the plaintiffs are joined in the legal action by their wives."Congressional investigations also reviewed the USSS’s failures on the day of the assassination attempt, including Senate findings which concluded that the USSS’s failures directly led to the shooting complained of herein, including, but not limited to, that the USSS’s conduct consisted of a "cascade of preventable failures," the lawsuit states.Dutch was shot in the abdomen and underwent multiple surgeries.Copenhaver was struck by two bullets in the abdomen and left arm, and fragments remain lodged in his body following the shooting, according to his complaint.CRITICAL SECURITY LAPSES BY SECRET SERVICE EXPOSED IN NEW REPORT ON TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTFormer President Donald Trump is rushed offstage by Secret Service agents during a rally in Butler, Pa., on July 13, 2024.
(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)The shooting occurred on July 13, 2024, during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds.Crooks grazed Trump's ear with a bullet and was killed by a Secret Service sniper seconds after he opened fire from a nearby rooftop.Corey Comperatore, a former volunteer fire chief who attended the event, was killed while shielding his family.The lawsuits detail a "cascade of preventable failures" by the Secret Service that allowed the shooting to occur, specifically pointing to the failure to secure the complex roof despite warnings...