Trump assassination attempt victims with life-altering injuries seek accountability: 'It will come to light'
EXCLUSIVE: PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh attorney representing the two men wounded in the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Trump is seeking accountability after they were left with life-altering injuries.
James Copenhaver, 74, and David Dutch, 57, sustained critical wounds after they were both shot twice at the rally.
"I think we're going to get to the bottom of that here at some point, whether that's through the [congressional] task force, through these investigations or if we do have to file a lawsuit. We'll definitely get answers through that process," Joseph Feldman, attorney at the Law Offices of Max C. Feldman, told Fox News Digital Monday. His office is exploring "different avenues" to get accountability after the shooting that forever altered his clients' lives.
Copenhaver and Dutch are both recovering from their injuries at home with their families and are "on the path to recovery" despite having "some setbacks," Feldman said.
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Both victims have lingering questions about how gunman Thomas Crooks was able to get onto the roof of the nearby one-story, American Glass Research (AGR) building and shoot at Trump about 150 yards from the candidate's podium. The building was located near the rally but technically not within the official perimeter.
"[W]e're the United States of America," Feldman said. "We pump tons of money into security resources in this country, especially dealing with the federal government. And you go to a rally to provide political support for a politician … the security is provided by the federal government, and it fails."
Copenhaver and Dutch are also wondering how Crooks was able to park his vehicle and fly a drone about 200 yards from where the former president would be speaking between about 3:50 p.m. and 4 p.m. that day. FBI Director Christopher Wray testified during a July 17 congressional hearing that Crooks had been at the rally site for about 70 minutes on the morning of the assassination attempt.
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"How is the airspace not shut down? Or why did the federal government not have their own drones up there to monitor the scene, make sure they know exactly who's coming in and out days in advance?" Feldman, who served in the U.S. Army for seven years and spent about one year in Afghanistan, wondered.
They also have lingering questions about who Crooks is "or the contents of his phone, or how he had access to these firearms or a firearm, or how he had access to explosive devices."
Feldman reflected on his own experience in the U.S. military.
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"Not everything you say to your leadership goes directly to the top. And even if you know something's going on, sometimes you know you're not allowed to do anything about it, or you don't have those orders. So, I'm curious," Feldman said. "I served in Afghanistan for just right around a year, and we … ran hundreds of thousands of miles of missions. And nobody ever got that close to you."
The House task force wants to hear from tipsters and whistleblowers to determine how 20-year-old Crooks was able to climb HVAC equipment and piping to get to the roof of the AGR building and hide there until he began shooting around 6:11 p.m.
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The FBI said during a July press call that Crooks had a DPMS AR-15-style gun with a collapsible stock when he entered the area of the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds, where Trump's campaign rally took place.
The Trump campaign announced the Butler rally July 3. Three days later, on July 6, Crooks signed up for the event. That same day, he researched how far Lee Harvey Oswald was from President Kennedy when Oswald assassinated him in 1963. On July 7, Crooks traveled to the rally site and spent approximately 20 minutes in the area, according to the FBI.
Crooks began taking shooting lessons in 2023, and he made 25 online gun purchases using an alias in the spring of 2023.
Crooks' father legally purchased the AR-15-style rifle Crooks used at the rally, and he legally transferred it to his son. Crooks also legally purchased 50 rounds of ammunition from a local gun store the morning of the rally.
Rally attendees previously told Fox News Digital people were pointing to a person on the AGR roof before gunfire began. A video shared exclusively with Fox News Digital from Copenhaver's perspective at the rally shows a figure that appears to be Crooks clearly walking across the roof of the AGR building just three minutes before he began shooting.
WATCH JAMES COPENHAVER'S POV:
"How do you get on a roof in an open field with people yelling that somebody's getting on a roof, with snipers … adjacent to them. … And you don't see him until he pops off his first round? That's their job. That's why they're there. Secret Service isn't there to listen to Donald Trump's speech or his stats on immigration," Feldman said.
Authorities first reported seeing a suspicious person near the rally site at least an hour before Crooks began shooting, according to Congress and the FBI. Local law enforcement notified command about the suspicious person and received confirmation that the Secret Service was aware of his presence.
It is still unclear how Crooks evaded security even after being noticed by law enforcement more than an hour before shots rang out, but the FBI said more than 300 agents and staff are working "round the clock" to gather facts and put together a clearer timeline of Crooks' actions.
Investigators located eight rounds on the roof where Crooks fired from, the agency said.
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Trump took the podium around 6 p.m., an hour after he was scheduled to speak. Eleven minutes later, Crooks fired multiple rounds, killing 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, a husband and father of two girls who served as a fire chief for the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Department.
FBI officials are trying to determine Crooks' motive behind the assassination attempt and whether he had any co-conspirators, though the agency has said there are no signs to indicate there were others involved.