Trump assassination victims with life-changing injuries demand accountability: “It will come to light”

EXCLUSIVE: PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh lawyer representing the two men injured in the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Trump is calling for those responsible to be held accountable after they suffered life-changing injuries.

James Copenhaver, 74, and David Dutch, 57, suffered serious injuries after they were both shot twice at the rally.

“I think we will get to the bottom of this at some point, whether through the [congressional] Task Force, through these investigations or if we actually have to file a lawsuit. We will definitely get answers through this process,” Joseph Feldman, an attorney with the Max C. Feldman Law Firm, told Fox News Digital on Monday. His firm is exploring “various options” to seek accountability following the shooting that forever changed his clients' lives.

“Our ability to conduct a comprehensive investigation is limited, but it will come to light.”

— Joseph Feldman

Copenhaver and Dutch are both recovering from their injuries at home surrounded by their families and are “on the road to recovery” despite “some setbacks,” Feldman said.

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For both victims, questions remain about how the gunman, Thomas Crooks, was able to get to the roof of the nearby one-story American Glass Research (AGR) building and shoot Trump about 450 feet from the candidate's lectern. The building was near the rally but not technically within official grounds.

“[W]We are the United States of America,” Feldman said. “We pump a ton of money into the security resources of this country, especially in dealing with the federal government. And when you go to a rally to give political support to a politician … security is provided by the federal government, and it's failing.”

“I think that's their biggest question: How could this happen?”

— Joseph Feldman

Copenhaver and Dutch also question how Crooks managed to park his vehicle about 200 meters from where the former president was scheduled to give a speech between 3:50 and 4:00 p.m. that day and fly a drone. FBI Director Christopher Wray testified during a congressional hearing on July 17 that Crooks was at the rally site for about 70 minutes on the morning of the attack.

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David Dutch leaves the Trump rally with serious gunshot wounds. (Facebook/Beaver County Republican Committee)

James Copenhaver suffered “life-changing injuries” at the Trump rally in Butler when he was shot during an assassination attempt on the former president. (Handout for families)

“Why isn't the airspace closed? Or why doesn't the federal government have their own drones up there to monitor the situation and make sure they know exactly who's going in and out days in advance?” wondered Feldman, who served seven years in the U.S. Army and spent about a year in Afghanistan.

Questions also remain about who Crooks is, “or what his phone contains, or how he had access to these firearms or a firearm, or how he had access to explosive devices.”

“[A]All these security measures are in place in this country and this lone shooter just seems to slip through the cracks.”

— Joseph Feldman

Feldman reflected on his own experiences in the U.S. military.

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Feldman reflected on his own experiences in the U.S. military when discussing the July 13 assassination attempt on President Trump and how the gunman, Thomas Crooks, was able to get onto a nearby roof. (Adam Gray for Fox News Digital)

“Not everything you tell your leadership gets straight to the top. And even if you know something is going on, sometimes you know you're not supposed to do anything about it or you don't have orders to do anything about it. So I'm curious,” Feldman said. “I served in Afghanistan for just under a year, and we did … hundreds of thousands of miles of deployments. And no one has ever come that close.”

The House Task Force wants to hear from informants and whistleblowers how 20-year-old Crooks was able to Climbing HVAC systems and piping to get to the roof of the AGR building and hide there until he started shooting at around 6:11 p.m.

Attempted Trump assassin was seen at rally in Pennsylvania shortly before he opened fire

A map showing points of interest related to the investigation into the attempted assassination of former President Trump by Thomas Crooks in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. (Provided by Senator Chuck Grassley)

The FBI said during a July press conference that Crooks was carrying an AR-15-style DPMS weapon with a folding stock when he entered the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds, where Trump's campaign rally was taking place.

The Trump campaign announced the Butler rally on July 3. Three days later, on July 6, Crooks signed up for the event. That same day, he was researching 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 about 20 minutes there, according to the FBI.

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The crooks began shooting lessons in 2023 and purchased 25 guns online under a pseudonym in the spring of 2023.

Thomas Crooks at the Trump rally on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Senator Ron Johnson)

Crooks' father had legally purchased the AR-15 rifle Crooks used at the rally and legally transferred it to his son. Crooks had also legally purchased 50 rounds of ammunition from a local gun store the morning of the rally.

Video of Trump assassination victim shows figure moving on roof shortly before shot

Attendees at the rally had previously told Fox News Digital that people were pointing at a figure on the roof of the AGR building before the shots were fired. A video shared exclusively with Fox News Digital from Copenhaver's perspective at the rally shows a figure who appears to be Crooks clearly running across the roof of the AGR building three minutes before he began shooting.

CHECK OUT JAMES COPENHAVER’S VIEW:

“How do you get on a rooftop in an open field when people are screaming for someone to go on a rooftop while snipers … are standing next to them. … And you don't see him until he fires his first round? That's their job. That's what they're there for. The Secret Service isn't there to listen to Donald Trump's speech or his statistics on immigration,” Feldman said.

“We saw it on video. We all watched from below as Thomas Crooks ran across the roof where the shooters were positioned from a lower vantage point.”

— Joseph Feldman

According to Congressional and FBI statements, authorities first reported seeing a suspicious person near the rally site at least an hour before Crooks began shooting. Local police notified dispatch of the suspect and received confirmation that the Secret Service was aware of his presence.

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Former President Trump was injured at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

It is still unclear how Crooks was able to evade security forces despite being spotted by police more than an hour before the shooting. However, the FBI said more than 300 agents and staff are working “around the clock” to gather facts and establish a clearer timeline of Crooks' actions.

Investigators discovered eight bullets on the roof from which Crooks fired the shots, authorities said.

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Trump took the podium around 6 p.m., an hour after his scheduled speech. Eleven minutes later Crooks fired several shotsThe fire killed 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, a husband and father of two girls who served as fire chief of the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Department.

FBI officials are trying to determine Crooks' motive for the attempted murder and whether there were co-conspirators, but the agency said there is no evidence that anyone else was involved in the attack.