The two men who were gravely injured when Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, spoke out publicly for the first time on Monday, telling NBC News that Secret Service and law enforcement officials failed in their duties on July 13.
Jim Copenhaver, 74 and David Dutch, 57, said they were excited to be at the rally and sitting in the stands behind Trump when shots rang out.
“I believe there was 100 percent negligence on the Secret Service, probably everybody involved in setting that security, down to inter-department communications,” Dutch said. “The negligence was vast. It was terrible.”
Copenhaver, meanwhile, said “it wouldn’t have happened, had it been secure.”
The men recalled the terrifying moments that bullets ripped through the bleachers, injuring Trump's ear and killing firefighter Corey Comperatore.
Copenhaver was shot in the triceps and abdomen, and Dutch was hit in the liver.
“It was like getting hit with a sledgehammer right in the chest,” Dutch said, adding that he could see chunks of the bleacher and metal “flying all around” until the shooting stopped.
Copenhaver said he didn't realize what was happening until he saw part of his sleeve get blown away.
“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,” he said, adding that he had collapsed onto the bleachers and couldn’t stand up.
Dutch and Copenhaver said the shooting has left them with ongoing health problems.
Copenhaver said he has lost 30 pounds and now has to walk with a cane. He still gets pain in his abdomen from time to time.
Dutch said he still needs help tending to his bullet wound. He lost 25 pounds and can’t drive or lift more than 10 pounds, he said.
“I never thought I’d be in this position,” he said. “I was usually the other guy helping other people out.” (NBC News)
Both men are taking legal action, according to NBC.
“I was just angry that the whole situation even happened,” Dutch said. “It should have never happened.”