Kelly’s task force issues final report on Trump assassination attempts
Three days ahead of its self-imposed deadline, a 13-member task force led by U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, has issued an 180-page final report on its findings and recommendations related to the assassination attempts directed toward now-President-elect Donald Trump earlier this year.
The report determined that a cascading series of organizational failures gave a gunman the opportunity to fire eight shots in Trump’s direction during his rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds on July 13. While Trump was only grazed on the right ear, one attendee — former Buffalo Township Fire Department Chief Corey Comperatore — was fatally wounded, and two others were seriously injured before the shooter himself was shot and killed by countersnipers.
As a direct response to the July 13 tragedy, the task force issued 37 total recommendations, most for the U.S. Secret Service, some for the Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service jointly, and others yet for Congress.
The recommendations — most gleaned from a close review of the assassination attempt in Butler County — include that the Secret Service have documentation on the plans of all other law enforcement agencies involved in securing an event; document and fill in gaps in coverage; and create a hierarchy of command and unified security room among state and local law enforcement agencies covering an event.
“There was not … a singular moment or decision that allowed Thomas Matthew Crooks to nearly assassinate the former President,” reads the report, which goes on to say Trump and everyone at the campaign event were exposed to “grave danger.”
Given special mention in the report was the failure of any law enforcement — local or national — to properly secure the AGR building on Whitestown Road, which the shooter used as a perch. The report also points out a breakdown in communication among the various law enforcement agencies as to who was responsible for what, indicating the Secret Service made no real effort to ensure the AGR complex was secured by local law enforcement.
“Local snipers on the property understood their responsibility to be overwatch of the crowd and venue, not the area outside the secure perimeter where (the gunman, Thomas Matthew) Crooks loitered and prepared, believing that area to have been secured by Secret Service countersnipers and patrol units,” the report says.
Additionally, one of the Secret Service countersniper teams closest to the AGR building was placed in a position where its view was obscured by a tree.
According to the report, the failures that led to the July 13 assassination attempt were “not entirely isolated to the campaign event itself, or the days preceding it.”
Issues in leadership and training created an environment where the assassination of a former president could have happened.
“Secret Service personnel with little to no experience in advance planning roles were given significant responsibility, despite the July 13 event being held at a higher-risk outdoor venue with many line of sight issues, in addition to specific intelligence about a long-range threat,” the report says.
The report charges that the tragedy was partly made possible when the agency placed people in roles and gave them responsibilities on that day for which they were inadequately trained, such as the Protective Intelligence Agent, who was not a full-time PIA and had limited experience in the required duties.
In addition, the report says the Secret Service failed to clearly delineate the responsibilities between itself and state/local law enforcement, or even between its own agents, sowing the seeds for confusion. Therefore, the task force issued recommendations for the Secret Service to provide unified briefings on the day of or the day before protectee-related events, and to conduct mandatory daily pre-event meetings with all law enforcement agencies.
While the Butler County shooting is proclaimed a “failure” within the Tuesday report, the task force applauded the measures taken by Secret Service on Sept. 15 in West Palm Beach, Fla., where another assassination attempt was made on Trump.
“The events that transpired on September 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida, demonstrated how properly executed protective measures can foil an attempted assassination,” the report says.
Nonetheless, three recommendations were offered from the task force’s review of that incident, too. These include reviewing protocols for sweeping golf courses, as well as increasing reliance on K-9 sweeps.
The task force, made of seven Republican and six Democratic members of the House of Representatives, also made recommendations for themselves within the report.
The report suggests Congress look at legislation to potentially reduce the number of Secret Service protectees, take the agency outside of oversight by the Department of Homeland Security and review the agency’s budget.
According to the report, the Secret Service has one-tenth the budget of its sister agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and its budget makes up only 3% of the budget of its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security.
“Financial and personnel resources should never stand in the way of the (Secret Service) carrying out their critical protective mission,” reads the report. “To the extent additional funding is needed, especially for technology and modernization, Congress, (the Department of Homeland Security), and the (Secret Service) should explore how to best achieve this end.”
Some questions, however, remain unanswered five months after the tragedy of July 13, such as the motivation of the Butler County shooter, Crooks, as well as the shooter in West Palm Beach, Ryan Routh.
The report goes into detail about the process behind the planning of the July 13 rally, but some sensitive information, including the names of key individuals, is blacked out.
The task force, which was officially formed after a unanimous vote of the House on July 24, will officially “sunset” on Dec. 20. At its meeting Dec. 5, the task force voted to forward its final report to the House.
