The Oversight Committee, the principal investigative body of the United States House of Representatives, has summoned Kimberly Cheatle, the Director of the Secret Service, to testify at a hearing.
This comes after the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump at a political rally on Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Pennsylvania.
Trump had escaped by the whiskers, saying, “I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation disclosed that 20-year-old Thomas Crooks had fired multiple gunshots, killing one while two others sustained injuries.
The Secret Service said the shooter committed the act from “an elevated position outside the rally” before being “neutralised” by agents.
Reacting to the incident on the committee’s website late Saturday in a statement titled “Comer Statement on Assassination Attempt of President Trump,” the committee Chairman, James Comer, condemned the attack and prayed for Trump and the victims.
He, however, said, “There are many questions and Americans demand answers. I have already contacted the Secret Service for a briefing and I am also calling on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to appear for a hearing. The Oversight Committee will send a formal invitation soon.”
“Political violence in all forms is un-American and unacceptable. My prayers are with President Trump and the victims of the assassination attempt at today’s rally in Pennsylvania. I thank the brave Secret Service members who put their lives at risk to protect President Trump and for the American patriots in the audience who helped innocent victims,” the statement added.
After being killed at the scene, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, Kevin Rojek, said Crooks had no means of identification on him, so agents had to “run his DNA and get biometric confirmation,” CNN reports.
