2 Butler law enforcement officials requested to testify on Trump assassination attempt in front of House committee
BUTLER, Pa. (KDKA) -- Two local Butler law enforcement officials have been requested to testify about the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in front of the House Committee on Homeland Security.
Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe and Butler Township Police Lt. Matthew Pearson along with Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Col. Christopher L. Paris have been invited to testify by Rep. Mark Green, the chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security.
Green said there will be an oversight hearing in the coming days to examine what happened surrounding the attempted assassination of Trump at a rally in Butler County on Saturday.
"As we continue to gather all the facts about the cowardly attempt on President Trump's life on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, the accounts and experiences of state and local law enforcement professionals with direct knowledge of these events will be critical," Green said in a statement.
"Our goal is to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again, and I very much look forward to working with these officials in order to accomplish that critical objective. And as always, the Committee remains deeply grateful for the service of the men and women of state and local law enforcement."
Slupe has told KDKA-TV that he's upset he and his team couldn't prevent what happened at the rally.
"There's going to be plenty of investigations, plenty of finger pointing going on, but at the end of the day, I know my deputies did a great job, the police did a great job and I can speak for what they've done because I witnessed part of it and at the end of the day we're all going to learn something from this."
Also on Wednesday, Green requested testimony from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray and U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.
A 20-year-old shooter from Bethel Park opened fire at the Trump rally on Saturday, killing 50-year-old firefighter Corey Comperatore, injuring two others and hitting the former president in the ear. Since then, questions have surrounded how Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was killed by a Secret Service sniper, was able to take aim at Trump.
