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The two men who were wounded along with Donald Trump at the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, said the Secret Service failed them and the former president.
Jim Copenhaver, 74, and David Dutch, 57, spoke with NBC Nightly News in their first public interview since the incident that left Corey Comperatore dead and Mr. Trump wounded in the ear. Mr. Copenhaver was shot in the triceps and abdomen and Mr. Dutch was hit in the liver.
“I believe there was 100% negligence on the Secret Service, probably everybody involved in setting that security, down to interdepartment communications,” Mr. Dutch said in the Monday interview. “The negligence was vast. It was terrible.”
“I’m sure there was negligence. It wouldn’t have happened had it been secure,” Mr. Copenhaver said.
Mr. Dutch said the Secret Service failed everybody “big time,” and security had a “poor” setup.
Attorneys for the two men have plans to sue, but haven’t decided whom the case will be against.
Both men said they face health problems since the incident. Mr. Copenhaver said he lost 30 pounds and has to walk with a cane, plus still feels pain in his abdomen.
“I turned around to my friend, and I said, ’I think I was shot,’ and that’s when I got the second one and then I went down,” Mr. Copenhaver said.
Mr. Dutch said he lost 25 pounds and still needs help handling his bullet wound. He can’t drive or lift anything heavier than 10 pounds.
“It was like getting hit with a sledgehammer right in the chest,” he said
“I never thought I’d be in this position. I was usually the other guy helping other people out,” Mr. Dutch said, adding that he struggles every day.
The 20-year-old gunman, Thomas Crooks, was shot to death by a Secret Service sniper shortly after firing from the roof of a building.
Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle stepped down after calls from lawmakers for her to do so. A Senate report last month said poor planning, communication and security “directly contributed” to the assassination attempt.
Mr. Dutch said he’s “angry that the whole situation even happened.”
“It should have never happened,” he said.
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