Bipartisan members of the Homeland Security Committee toured the scene of the assassination attempt for the first time on Monday
Local Pennsylvania police officers reported being barred from entering a Secret Service command center during former President Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, according to Republican Tennessee Rep. Mark Green.
Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Rep. Green, along with other bipartisan committee members, toured the Butler Farm Show grounds, the site where 20-year-old Thomas Crooks attempted to assassinate Trump just over a week ago.
“Normally, according to the local sheriff, they have done these events in the past with the Secret Service and always had one of their people in that Secret Service control room. That was not allowed this time for some reason,” Green told Fox News Digital after he toured the crime scene, which has remained closed to the public since July 13.
Green, an Army veteran, cited this as an example of miscommunication between local and federal law enforcement. He added that lawmakers are also working to gather more information on the communication radios used by law enforcement on the day of the rally.
Paul Mauro, a Fox News legal and criminal analyst and former NYPD commanding officer, explained to Fox News Digital that a command center is typically a hub for representatives of all law enforcement agencies involved in securing an event to coordinate and streamline communication.
Mauro noted that the highest-ranking members of specific agencies are usually present at the command center to make crucial decisions, with the Secret Service boss having the final say.
During Trump’s rally in Butler, the command center was set up under a tent.
“The Secret Service is fully accountable for the safety of its protectees,” a USSS spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “We are committed to better understanding what happened before, during, and after the assassination attempt of former President Trump to ensure that never happens again. That includes complete cooperation with Congress, the FBI, and other relevant investigations.”
The Butler County Sheriff’s Office and Butler Police Department did not immediately respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital. The Pennsylvania State Police declined to comment due to the ongoing nature of the investigation.
Rep. Green mentioned that the committee’s next steps are to “synthesize all the members’ questions from” Monday’s tour of the rally site “and prepare for our interviews in the committee.”
During a media availability after the Homeland Security Committee tour, Green revealed that some members of Congress were able to climb onto the roof from which Crooks fired without any equipment. He also noted that a water tower overlooking the rally site was not utilized by law enforcement for security purposes.
Republican Pennsylvania Rep. Mark Kelly, who is from the area, commented on reports that law enforcement was aware of a suspicious person about an hour before Trump took the stage on July 13.
“If there was an idea that there was somebody here that was suspect, why even allow President Trump to go up to the podium… and why did we go ahead and continue with the program?” Kelly told Fox News Digital. “I can tell you that being there for watching the president go down, watching Corey right over my left shoulder go down — it was a horrible day for American people. And then a couple of other gentlemen sitting across from the president also getting struck by bullets. It was a bad day for America.”
Green and other lawmakers are calling for Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign after Crooks opened fire at the rally, injuring Trump and killing 50-year-old attendee Corey Comperatore, a husband, father, and former fire chief at the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Department. The shooting also left 57-year-old David Dutch and 74-year-old James Copenhaver critically wounded, though they are currently in stable condition.
Cheatle took questions from members of the House Oversight Committee on Monday. Democratic Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz asked if Cheatle would “be prepared to fire people on the ground who made poor decisions” following the Monday hearing.
The Secret Service director responded that she did not have the answer to Moskowitz’s question.
Federal law enforcement is still working to determine Crooks’ motivation for shooting the former president.
Stay tuned for more updates on this developing story.