In a showing of bipartisanship, Alabama's entire federal congressional delegation voted in favor of creating a bipartisan House task force to investigate the July 13 attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
The vote passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 416-0, adding weight to bipartisan calls for an investigation into the assassination attempt that many consider to be a disastrous breakdown in Secret Service security protocols.
According to officials, Trump was shot in the ear by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who climbed a building nearly 140 yards away at a Trump rally in Butler, Pa., on July 13. Crooks fired multiple shots before being killed by Secret Service counter-snipers.
Crooks shot Trump at 6:12 p.m. local time. At 5:30 p.m., Crooks was spotted by the Secret Service using a rangefinder. At 5:52 p.m., Crooks was seen on the rooftop from which he fired multiple shots. Minutes before the actual shooting, video shared by eyewitnesses showed bystanders yelling and pleading with law enforcement, claiming that Crooks was on the roof and had a gun. Later investigation revealed that Crooks also had two radio-controlled explosive devices in his vehicle.
Despite Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle resigning earlier this week, lawmakers across the aisle are still demanding answers on the breakdown in security that allowed Crooks to fire the near-fatal shot.
The task force will be empowered with subpoena authority to investigate the shortfalls of Secret Service and other personnel that led to an assassin achieving near success in his attempt.
Alabama's lone Democratic member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Birmingham), voted in favor of the resolution, along with U.S. Reps. Dale Strong (R-Huntsville), Barry Moore (R-Enterprise), Jerry Carl (R-Mobile), Gary Palmer (R-Hoover), Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) and Mike Rogers (R-Saks).
Following the vote, Moore joined the sentiments of his Alabama colleagues and demanded further answers into what has been perceived to be a catastrophic security failure.
"The security failures that led to an attempt on President Donald Trump's life are shocking," Moore said. "The Secret Service failed on a no-fail mission, and it's imperative that we figure out the facts and hold people accountable so it never happens again."
Palmer previously voiced support for a task force, with the caveat of wanting independent experts leading the investigation instead of members of Congress.
"From my perspective, I really would prefer that we not have a bunch of members of Congress on the task force," Palmer said. "Because, and I know this will shock you, but there are a lot of members of Congress that are more interested in getting more media hits than they are getting to a solution. I think we need independent expert investigators that we can trust to handle this. A deep-dive investigation will take months to really get through everything I think we need to get through."
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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