Pennsylvania Republicans want to take a closer look at the local response to the July 13 sniper attack and attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a Butler, Pennsylvania, political rally.
House Republican Leader Bryan Cutler introduced a resolution Friday calling for the formation of the House Select Committee on the Trump Assassination Attempt, to investigate the actions and response of state and local law enforcement.
The committee would include three Republicans and three Democrats and would look at how state and local law enforcement planned for the rally, responded to the threat, and coordinated with federal agencies.
The committee would be required to write a report on the matter by Nov. 30.
“One Pennsylvanian died and two were critically wounded as an assassin nearly took the life of a former president and the nominee of a major political party in the upcoming election,” Mr. Cutler said in a statement. “We must ask the questions of why, and what we can do to prevent this from happening in the future.”
More Campaign Events Expected
Pennsylvania is a political battleground state and will be the epicenter of many high-level campaign events for the rest of the 2024 election season, Mr. Cutler said. He predicts more high profile events in the state and says federal law enforcement is increasingly relying on state and local partners to supplement security protocols.
This is why lawmakers must identify what happened from a state and local perspective, he said. The committee is instructed to identify operational changes needed for security support in such events.
“The purpose of this committee is not to assign blame, but rather give state and local law enforcement a voice so we can collectively identify what happened and learn to improve upon current practices,” Mr. Cutler said.
The resolution must be passed in a House vote before the committee can convene.
Pennsylvania has a divided House, with 101 Republicans and 100 Democrats. The majority party in the House has been changing all year, as members resign or are elected to other positions.
At the start of 2024, Democrats took over leadership. The rules keep them in power despite the teetering balance of members. The party in power leads the agenda and decides which bills are considered by the entire House body, making it unclear if the measure will pass.
“It depends on house Democrats calling it up for a floor vote, since they have the majority,” House Republican Caucus spokesman Jason Gottesman told The Epoch Times. “We hope they would see the value in giving law enforcement a voice and learning what we can do better. But it would be very on-brand for Democrats to want to deny the voice of law enforcement, and get their perspective.”
