U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley is calling for a congressional investigation into an assassination attempt that wounded former President Donald Trump and killed at least one person Saturday at a rally about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Hawley’s call for Senate committee hearings and full transparency about the shooting came as Missouri political figures across the political spectrum condemned the assassination attempt.
“We got to understand: How did this happen? How is it that he was allowed to get up there? Why did it take so long to respond?” Hawley said in an interview Sunday with St. Louis Public Radio. “I don't have the answers to any of those questions. And I don't have any speculation. But I do want the facts.”
Trump was speaking Saturday afternoon in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a man FBI officials identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire. Trump suffered an injury to his ear. At least one attendee died, and two others were critically injured. A Secret Service sniper killed Crooks, according to CBS News.
On Sunday morning, Hawley sent a letter to Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The Republican lawmaker wrote that “although we don’t have all the facts, the little we do know suggests a staggering security failure.” He went on to call for a “full, public, and comprehensive committee investigation” that includes sworn testimony from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.
The House Oversight Committee announced Saturday night that it has launched an investigation into the shooting.
“We've been through this before with assassinations and attempted assassinations. And, sadly, there's a pattern in these things,” Hawley said Sunday. “Often government actors conceal information. They downplay it. They hide it from the public. That cannot happen. In this circumstance, the American people deserve to know the full truth. And we've got to figure out what happened here and why.”
Hawley also said it’s important to disclose all information about Crooks. He added he doesn’t want a replay of what happened with President John F. Kennedy’s assassination — or, more recently, how a diatribe by the shooter at a Nashville Christian school wasn’t released to the public.
“We just need a full and public accounting of this,” Hawley said. “I want to be able to say that we have figured out who he was, why he acted, how the security breach happened, and the public knows all of it,” he said. “I don't want to be in 20 years talking about this and say: ‘The Department of Justice never really did get to the bottom of it, and they never really would tell us what happened. That is just not acceptable.”
Reactions to the assassination attempt
The shooting prompted a bipartisan outpouring of messages by members of the Missouri and Illinois congressional delegation condemning the violence and offering sympathy for Trump and others killed or wounded Saturday.
“The president is very, very fortunate to be alive,” Hawley said. “Of course, one innocent bystander is dead. Others are very seriously injured. Still more were grazed by bullets. And this is unbelievable. This was an attempted assassination and an attempted mass murder. And we have got to figure out how this happened.”
Hawley said that he had spoken with Trump on Saturday morning before the rally about the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, which begins Monday, and whom Trump may choose as his vice presidential nominee.
Missouri Democratic Party Chairman Russ Carnahan said in a statement that violent political acts and rhetoric have no place in America” and that “this is a time for leaders of all parties to resolve to bridge our deep and dangerous divisions.”
Democratic Congresswoman Cori Bush of St. Louis County said in a statement on X that “we must always collectively condemn political violence.”
“I mourn the loss of life and pray for the families of the victims,” said Bush. “I hope for a full recovery for everyone injured today in Butler, Pennsylvania.”
U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, both Illinois Democrats, also condemned the shooting. Durbin said in a statement that “political violence is never acceptable,” adding he’s sending “my deepest thanks to law enforcement for helping keep those in attendance safe.” Duckworth added “there is absolutely no excuse—and no place whatsoever—for violence in American politics.”
“And those responsible for this must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” Duckworth wrote on X.
Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt said in a statement Saturday that he was “praying for President Trump and everyone who was in attendance at the rally, including the family and loved ones of the innocent attendee that was reportedly shot and killed.”
“It is an absolutely horrific scene in Pennsylvania,” said Schmitt, R-Missouri. “Secret Service should be applauded for their quick response and bravery in the face of danger.”
Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth, said in a statement on the social media platform X that the shooting “is a despicable and cowardly act of violence that underscores the severity of threats faced by our leaders.” Congressman Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, said he was "shocked by the news of the attack."
Republican Congressman Mark Alford of Cass County, Missouri, echoed Hawley’s call for an investigation.
“The American people deserve answers - from the Secret Service, the FBI, and others,” Alford wrote on X. “How was this horrible security failure allowed to happen?”
