David Dutch and Jim Copenhaver survived the July 13 shooting at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and plan to file a lawsuit.
Two people who were shot by the would-be assassin who attempted to kill former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, blamed the U.S. Secret Service for not securing the rally site.
David Dutch, 57, and Jim Copenhaver, 74, were struck by bullets fired by Thomas Crooks on July 13. The former president was hit in the ear by a bullet while another man, Corey Comperatore, 50, was killed.
Neither Dutch nor Copenhaver had yet spoken about their experience of attending the Butler rally. They were both in the bleachers behind Trump when they were shot.
“I believe there was 100% negligence on the Secret Service, probably everybody involved in setting that security, down to inter-department communications,” Dutch told NBC News. “The negligence was vast. It was terrible.”
Copenhaver added: “I’m sure there was negligence. It wouldn’t have happened, had it been secure.“ He said that ”the whole security setup was poor.”
Attorneys for the men told NBC they plan to file a lawsuit but are still looking into who to sue.
The Secret Service did not respond to a request for comment.
Dutch, who served in the military, told NBC that getting struck “was like getting hit with a sledgehammer right in the chest.” He and Copenhaver both said they’re still recovering. Dutch said he’s lost 25 pounds, still can’t drive, and can’t lift more than 10 pounds.
The Secret Service has acknowledged that the rally was not handled properly. Kimberly Cheatle, the agency’s director at the time of the shooting, said that what unfolded was the Secret Service’s “most significant operational failure” in decades.
An internal review highlighted failures, including Secret Service agents being stationed in a room separate from the Butler County Emergency Services command post, hindering communication between law enforcement personnel.
“This was a failure on part of the United States Secret Service,” Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe said as he described the findings of the review, which has not yet been made public, during a Sept. 20 press conference.
The Secret Service also did not communicate with personnel who were on the rooftop of the American Glass Research building, from where Crooks allegedly fired at Trump.
Crooks was shot dead by a Secret Service countersniper.
Trump returned to the same site earlier this month, telling the crowd that “12 weeks ago, we all took a bullet for America.”
Trump held a moment of silence for Comperatore, a firefighter, and met with his widow and daughters after the event.