Eleven 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.”
What they were looking for and the ‘surprise’ they found
“We’ve read dozens of reports about it,” Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY) said in an interview with the Washington Examiner. “But we wanted to put our eyes on the scene itself … and get a real human feel for the event” to inform their understanding of the decisions made by the Secret Service and the “failures that caused one person to die, two to get injured, and for us to almost lose President Trump.”
LaLota explained that he and his colleagues were seeking “a human understanding of the proximity of the building to the stage, the fence line, the perimeters” during their site visit.
“It was important for the bipartisan group to be here and get that first-hand experience,” he added.
Aside from LaLota, Green, and Kelly, Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Lou Correa (D-CA), Michael Guest (R-MS), Glenn Ivey (D-MD), Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), Laurel Lee (R-FL), Josh Brecheen (R-OK), and Eli Crane (R-AZ) attended the visit.
“The biggest surprise that was revealed to me was the proximity of the building where the shooter was placed [to the stage],” LaLota said. “And how a law enforcement officer … was in the building adjacent to the would-be assassin, but yet, the would-be assassin was able to not only get on the roof, [but] loiter on the roof for some time before firing what we think are eight shots.”
For Gimenez, it is the shooter’s access to the building’s roof that “bothers” him most. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle claimed the agency tasked with protecting Trump on July 13 didn’t have someone posted on the roof because “that building in particular has a sloped roof.”
“I could run around that roof all day, and I am 70 years old,” Gimenez told the Washington Examiner. He also posted a video of himself on the roof to X and stated, “If I was able to get on this roof — anybody can.”
BREAKING —> My name is Carlos Gimenez & I represent Miami in Congress.
I’m standing on the roof in Pennsylvania where Thomas Crooks attempted to assassinate President Trump.
I’m 70 years old, if I was able to get on this roof — anybody can. pic.twitter.com/fWmPnvpdtK
— Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez (@RepCarlos) July 22, 2024
“Today,” Gimenez said, “I learned that local agencies did not have a presence at the Secret Service command centers.”
He said the assassination attempt might have been prevented if local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies “had communication between one another.”
“This breach and lack of communication and teamwork between agencies is beyond failure,” he added.
Green, the House Homeland Security Committee chairman, sent a July 14 letter and July 19 subpoena to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas demanding information related to the Secret Service’s preparations and the Department of Homeland Security’s response to the rally shooting.
The committee invited Mayorkas, Cheatle, and FBI Director Christopher Wray to testify in a Tuesday hearing, and members have been investigating in part by communicating with DHS officials and through conversations with Cheatle and FBI Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells.
‘Final straw’: Walls closing in on Cheatle
While the House Homeland Security Committee was visiting the site of the Butler rally shooting, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee grilled Cheatle over the “colossal failure” that allowed Thomas Crooks to fire multiple rounds before being killed with “one shot.”
Congressmen on both sides of the aisle called for Cheatle to resign or be fired during the hearing. After listening to it for himself, LaLota chided the Secret Service director for “stubbornly” refusing to answer questions.
Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY) introduced a legislative resolution demanding Cheatle’s termination Monday after the hearing. LaLota said while he may not have supported his fellow New York Republican’s resolution “a day or two ago,” Cheatle’s conduct at the hearing put him over the edge because it “add[ed] insult to the injury that she helped cause on July 13” and did not facilitate congressional oversight into the shooting.
“Enough is enough,” LaLota said. “She’s got to go.”
“If she won’t go, the president must fire her so that the agency can move on and regain its confidence with the public,” he added.
Gimenez echoed a similar sentiment, stating, “The Director of the Secret Service should resign immediately.” He said Cheatle “has proven to be unable to lead the agency and ensure the safety of those in imminent danger, like President Trump.”
He said the “final straw for me” was his experience on the roof where the shooter carried out his would-be assassination, where Cheatle said nobody was stationed because of the roof’s sloped nature.
“The Secret Service did not account for anything,” Gimenez said. “The security failures that took place at President Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, are inexcusable.”
At the Monday hearing, Cheatle said she does not have plans to resign as Secret Service director.
“I think that I am the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time,” she said.
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“The elections should be decided by ballots, not bullets,” LaLota declared. “The Secret Service remains responsible for the incident on July 13, and Congress ought to hold those in the Secret Service accountable for their failure.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Secret Service for comment.
