Police vehicles near Butler venue after Trump assassination attempt
PITTSBURGH – Two Pennsylvania men shot during the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump in 2024 are suing the federal government for allegedly failing to protect the crowd at a rally in Butler.
James Copenhaver and David Dutch filed separate lawsuits last week in federal court, naming the United States of America as defendant. They were among those struck by bullets fired by Thomas Crooks, and the Secret Service is blamed for failing to stop him.
Congressional investigations showed Crooks had been acting erratically before the rally and, despite being the subject of an intensive search, “managed to climb onto the roof of a building and fire eight shots before being killed by a counter-sniper,” the suits say.
The congressional report concluded Secret Service personnel with little to no experience in planning roles were given significant responsibilities even though the outdoor venue had line-of-sight issues. The Secret Service acknowledged breakdowns in communication, technological issues and human failure.
The two plaintiffs filed their notices of claim last year before filing their cases. Dutch suffered a hemopneumothorax and the laceration of his liver, among other serious issues. Copenhaver also went through several surgeries and also still has bullet fragments in his body.
Local law enforcement had noticed Crooks acting strangely but those concerns were never relayed to the Secret Service because the security plan failed to include communication channels among all agencies, the suit says.
An hour before opening fire, Crooks was seen using a range finder to determine the distance to the stage where Trump would speak. This started a search, and a BOLO was issued that “was not widely disseminated to all USSS personnel,” the suit says.
Joseph Feldman of Feldman Law Group in Coraopolis represents the man, along with the firm Speiser Krause.
