Donald Trump shooting 'preventable': House task force studying assassination attempt

WASHINGTON – The shooting and wounding of former President Donald Trump in an attempted assassination attempt was “preventable,” a bipartisan House task force said Monday .

The task force headed by Reps. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., and Jason Crow, D-Colo., echoed many of the findings from previous reviews by an i ndependent Department of Homeland Security panel , a Senate inquiry and a Secret Service internal review .

Trump was shot in the ear at a rally on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, and a spectator was killed before a Secret Service sniper shot the gunman.

The task force findings based on 23 interviews with local law enforcement officials and a review of thousands of pages of documents included:

◾ Inadequate planning and coordination between the Secret Service and local law enforcement officers, including the lack of a unified command post.

◾ Local sniper teams weren’t positioned to monitor the building where the gunman perched about 150 yards from Trump.

◾ Fragmented communications between the Secret Service and local officials delayed the relay of information about the gunman.

“Put simply, the evidence obtained by the Task Force to date shows the tragic events of July 13 were preventable,” the report said.

Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe has said the agency has already bolstered security for major-party presidential nominees, such as providing bullet-proof glass around the candidates at outdoor events and expanding the amount of space it protects. The agency is reviewing recommendations from the independent panel.

The House task force plans another 20 interviews with federal officials while aiming to uncover planning and security failures that led to the shooting. The task force has also expanded its review to cover the assassination attempt on Sept. 15 when a suspect waited with a gun for Trump at a golf course where the former president was playing in in West Palm Beach, Florida.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump shooting 'preventable': House task force studying assassination attempt