{"id":2346328,"date":"2024-09-26T14:24:02","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T18:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/top-takeaways-from-assassination-attempt-task-forces-first-hearing-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-09-26T14:26:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T18:26:00","slug":"top-takeaways-from-assassination-attempt-task-forces-first-hearing-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/top-takeaways-from-assassination-attempt-task-forces-first-hearing-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Top takeaways from assassination attempt task force\u2019s first hearing &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftop-takeaways-from-assassination-attempt-task-forces-first-hearing-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2346328&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A House task force held its first public hearing on the assassination attempt \u2064against former President Donald Trump, which occurred during a rally in Pennsylvania on July \u200b13. Local law enforcement\u2063 officials \u2062testified that\u200b despite following\u2063 the \u200cSecret Service\u2019s instructions, a gunman, Thomas Matthew \u200cCrooks, was able to gain access to a rooftop near the \u2062rally and \u200dfired shots into\u200d the crowd, \u2063resulting in one death and \u2062two serious injuries. \u2063Criticism \u200bhas \u200bbeen \u200bdirected at the Secret Service for\u2063 not taking adequate precautions, specifically for failing to secure the \u2064building from which Crooks fired.<\/p>\n<p>Sgt. Ed Lenz, a tactical unit commander, revealed that his team was never instructed to secure\u2062 the building&#8217;s roof, and Pennsylvania State Police\u200c Lt. John Herold echoed this, stating that security around the building\u2064 was not discussed during \u200bplanning. During the hearing, details emerged about the\u2063 rapid response \u2062from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/president-trump-pledges-orderly-transition-of-power\/\" title=\"President Trump pledges orderly transition of power\">local law enforcement<\/a>; \u200bhowever,\u200d Crooks had already\u200c fired \u200ball\u200d eight shots before <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ex-cop-in-breonna-taylor-case-found-not-guilty\/\" title=\"Ex-Cop in Breonna Taylor Case Found Not Guilty\">police returned fire<\/a>. A medical examiner\u200d testified about \u200cthe fatal gunshot \u2063wound that ultimately caused Crooks&#8217;\u200c death. Tensions during the hearing highlighted the\u200d significant failures in security planning\u2062 by the Secret Service and ongoing concerns regarding the \u2064event&#8217;s management.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Top takeaways from assassination attempt task force&rsquo;s first hearing<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1769819\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>A House task force investigating the assassination attempts on former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Donald Trump\">Donald Trump<\/a> held its first public hearing Thursday, during which local <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/pennsylvania\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Pennsylvania\">Pennsylvania<\/a> officials placed blame for the incident in their state on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/secret-service\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Pennsylvania\">Secret Service<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Three state and local law enforcement officials involved with securing the Trump rally on July 13, when the first assassination attempt occurred, appeared as witnesses at the hearing and vouched for their performances that day.<\/p>\n<p>They spoke about how, despite following instructions from the Secret Service to a tee, a gunman was still able to climb atop a nearby building and fire shots into the rally crowd.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was able to spend minutes on the roof of an American Glass Research building rooftop, roughly 200 yards away from where Trump was speaking, before taking eight shots. Crooks killed one and seriously injured two. Crooks narrowly missed Trump&rsquo;s head and instead grazed the former president&rsquo;s ear with a bullet.<\/p>\n<p>Much of the scrutiny following the incident has been on the Secret Service, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3161400\/acting-secret-service-director-trump-assassination-attempt-mission-failure\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>admitted<\/a> after a two-month internal review that it was the sole agency responsible for the failures that allowed the shooting to happen.<\/p>\n<p>Testimonies on Thursday about the shooting, however, gave fresh local perspectives about what happened before, during, and after the rally.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&lsquo;At no point&rsquo; did Secret Service ask to secure AGR building<\/h2>\n<p>Sgt. Ed Lenz, who worked as the commander of Butler County&rsquo;s tactical units during the rally, testified that the county was asked to provide substantial manpower for the event but was never asked to secure the area around or on top of the AGR International building.<\/p>\n<p>The FBI found that Crooks climbed on an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/police-search-underway-after-2-inmates-escape-from-ariz-prison\/\" title=\"Police search underway after 2 inmates escape from Ariz. prison\">air conditioning unit<\/a> against the building to access the roof of it, and no authorities were guarding the outside of the building or the roof to stop him.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;At no point during the planning process was Butler County [Emergency Services Unit] asked to secure the AGR complex, nor the perimeter surrounding that area,&rdquo; Lenz said. &ldquo;At no point during the planning process was Butler ESU asked to deploy a sniper team to the roof of the AGR complex, and at no point in our operations plan did we ever say we would deploy a sniper team to the roof of the AGR complex.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Lenz added that there was a local law enforcement sniper inside the building who had no visibility of the building&rsquo;s roof.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;And, again, that was not within their area of responsibility,&rdquo; Lenz said.<\/p>\n<p>Pennsylvania State Police Lt. John Herold testified that at the state level, Secret Service personnel also did not ask for security around the AGR building.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pennsylvania State Police Lt. John Herold testifies on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, in Washington. (Graeme Jennings\/Washington Examiner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&ldquo;The AGR building was never discussed&rdquo; when state police performed their walk-through of the area with the Secret Service days ahead of the rally, Herold said.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The ninth bullet<\/h2>\n<p>Dr. Ariel Goldschmidt, an Allegheny County medical examiner who performed the autopsy of Crooks on July 14, testified that he died from a high-velocity gunshot wound to the head &ldquo;with an entrance wound in the left upper lip.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Lenz testified that one of the local Butler officers positioned behind Trump fired one round at Crooks when Crooks began firing shots. Lenz said the officer did this within six seconds of Crooks shooting, but only after Crooks had gotten off all eight of his shots. After the Butler officer fired his shot, a Secret Service countersniper on an opposite roof shot one round at Crooks, which is the bullet that struck and killed him, according to a Senate report <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hsgac.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/USSS-HSGAC-Interim-Report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>released<\/a> this week.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) raised a theory that Crooks could have died from a &ldquo;combination of shot No. 9 and shot No. 10.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t know where shot No. 9 went,&rdquo; Higgins told Goldschmidt, suggesting that a second bullet could have gone through the same bullet wound found on Crooks&rsquo;s lip.<\/p>\n<p>The medical examiner responded that there was no evidence of that.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Democrats leave early<\/h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-task-force-targets-fentanyl-dealers-in-san-francisco\/\" title=\"Task force aims to combat Fentanyl dealers in SF.\">task force comprises<\/a> seven Republicans and six Democrats and has operated since its inception in a bipartisan manner, but that approach faltered at the end of the hearing.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats left the hearing room once lawmakers finished questioning the witnesses &mdash; but before the hearing was complete.<\/p>\n<p>The second phase of the hearing involved Reps. Eli Crane (R-AZ) and Cory Mills (R-FL), who are not on the task force, taking a seat in the witness chairs to give remarks to the panel. The pair spoke about their military backgrounds and unofficial roles investigating the Butler shooting.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Democrats told reporters they left because they had not planned for that phase of the hearing.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Panel one was a very productive panel,&rdquo; ranking member Jason Crow (D-CO) said. &ldquo;It was focused on local law enforcement. We did not receive notice of the second panel until late yesterday. We didn&rsquo;t have an opportunity to meet with our own witnesses, and it is unclear to us what testimony will be provided by these witnesses that relates to today&rsquo;s hearing.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1769819\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1769819\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key points from the first hearing of the assassination attempt task force<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":2346329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/AP24270600761082.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[34943,3679,10191,34511,32076],"class_list":["post-2346328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-assassination-attempt","tag-hearing","tag-takeaways","tag-task-force","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/AP24270600761082.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2346328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2346328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2346328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2346329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2346328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2346328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2346328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}