A task force led by a Republican congressman from Southwestern Pennsylvania on Tuesday capped a monthslong investigation of the attempted assassination of President-elect Donald Trump at a Butler County campaign rally in July by releasing dozens of recommendations to improve the U.S. Secret Service after widespread criticism of the agency.
In a 180-page final report, the bipartisan Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump made 25 specific recommendations and 11 general ones. They included centralizing security operations and improving inter-agency communication to recording all Secret Service radio transmissions and offering more training for drone operators.
“The task force and each of its members condemns the horrific assault on President-elect Trump,” the group wrote in the report’s conclusion. “The events of July 13, 2024, were tragic and preventable, and the litany of related security failures are unacceptable.”
“The Secret Service’s zero fail mission allows no margin for error, let alone for the many errors described in this report,” the report added.
The task force, created by legislation that unanimously passed the U.S. House in July, was chaired by Butler County Rep. Mike Kelly.
The 13-member group said it reviewed more than 18,000 pages of documents from federal, state and local agencies. Kelly also issued five subpoenas in connection with the task force’s work.
Spokesmen for Kelly and Trump did not respond Tuesday for requests for comment.
A lone gunman — Thomas Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park — opened fire at the Butler Farm Show grounds, striking the former president in the ear, killing rallygoer Corey Comperatore and seriously wounding two others.
The Secret Service bore the brunt of criticism in the task force’s final report, and its head stepped down amid heavy pressure.
The report said the Secret Service was “overly reliant” on state and local resources. They called agents’ advance work “fragmented.”
Secret Service agents need to review operations plans from all agencies providing security at a political event, and those same agents need to focus on potential threats both inside and beyond a site’s perimeter, the task force said.
They also need to more deeply document any line-of-sight concerns for possible shooters.
Those concerns directly referenced Crooks, who fired eight rounds at Trump while perched on an unguarded rooftop near the farm show grounds, the report said.
The gunman, armed with a rifle and a rangefinder, prepared for about six minutes to take his shot from the rooftop of the nearby AGR International office building before he opened fire.
Crooks was killed by a Secret Service countersniper moments after he fired at Trump.
An estimated crowd of 20,000 supporters trekked to the farm show grounds Oct. 6 as Trump returned the site for the first time since the shooting.
Security at the October rally was increased significantly compared to Trump’s July 13 visit. More Secret Service snipers were visible on nearby roofs. Law enforcement officials set up more barriers blocking sight lines to the stage.
Trump delivered remarks from behind protective glass at the front of the podium.