Two men shot at 2024 Trump rally file lawsuit, alleging negligence by Secret Service and DHS

Two people who were wounded during the assassination attempt of Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024 have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government.

Read the full article on KETV 7

Digital Content Manager

BUTLER, Pa. —

Two people who were shot and injured during the assassination attempt of Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July of 2024 have filed a lawsuit against the United States government, alleging their injuries were caused by the negligence of the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security.

On July 13, 2024, then-presidential-candidate Donald Trump held a political rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds. Ten minutes after he walked on stage, gunshots rang out over the crowd, and Secret Service agents rushed to the stage to surround Trump.

Corey Comperatore, a father and a firefighter, was killed protecting his family. James Copenhaver and David Dutch, the men behind the lawsuit, were both hospitalized with severe injuries after being shot.

The shooting suspect, Thomas Crooks, was shot and killed by a sniper.

The dual lawsuits allege the people meant to provide safety to those in attendance “utterly failed” and did not give the proper, appropriate or timely services to fulfill their responsibilities at the rally.

The lawsuit claims the assassination attempt was “entirely preventable” and was caused by egregious failures leading up to the shooting made by the Secret Service.

The suit goes on to claim that due to the failures by the Secret Service, Crooks, who was seen acting erratically before the shooting, managed to climb onto a roof of a building and fire eight shots.

The court documents claim that Secret Service failed to secure the roof and had improper lines of communication between themselves and others, which prevented them from properly disseminating critical security information prior to the assassination attempt.

Following the shooting, numerous Secret Service agents were suspended after the agency acknowledged “breakdowns in communication, technological issues and human failure.”

The lawsuit also claims that technological issues were rampant on the day of the shooting, citing issues with radios between security personnel and a drone being inoperative.

The lawsuit seeks $150,000 in damages.