(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The two men who survived gunshot wounds from the July 13, 2024, Trump assassination attempt have sued the U.S. government for the egregious security failures from that fateful event.
The victims, Butler rallygoers Jim Copenhaver and David Dutch and their wives, seek over $150,000 apiece in damages for their injuries, which are still ongoing. Copenhaver was shot twice: once in his left triceps, and once in the abdomen. Dutch, who was standing about five feet to Copenhaver’s left, was shot once in the chest. The bullet split his liver and exited his side.
Butler shooting victim Jim Copenhaver, who wrote the forward to my book, has sued the US Gov't for negligence.
The lawsuit details Jim's horrific injuries, which will require future surgeries. Bullet fragments are still inside him.
H/t to @LmBubba for flagging https://t.co/xRkga2HTac pic.twitter.com/CygbfACpYP— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) June 2, 2026
According to court records, Copenhaver was required to undergo numerous surgeries, including closure of traumatic abdominal wall hernia, laparotomy, laceration repair, and transection of his colon. There are still bullet fragments in his body, which will require continued monitoring.
Dutch also had multiple surgeries, including for the repair of his liver. Like Copenhaver, he’ll have to continue to undergo rehabilitation for the rest of his life.
The Secret Service’s failures are well documented, and are detailed in this writer’s book on the subject.
In short, the agency didn’t secure the ARG building that was eventually used as a perch by the alleged gunman, Thomas Crooks. Secret Service command center Jeffrey Burr also never put it out over the radios that there was a suspicious person with a rangefinder in the area. Perhaps most inexplicably, Secret Service counter-sniper David King waited over 15 seconds before returning fire, despite seeing Crooks “crawling” with an AR-15-style rifle before his attack.
As a result, Dutch and Copenhaver were permanently injured, Trump was grazed in the ear by a bullet and nearly killed, and firefighter Corey Comperatore was murdered. There’s no word on whether Comperatore’s widow, Helen, is going to sue the government, too.
Meanwhile, the FBI has withheld thousands of records on the alleged gunman, Crooks. The FBI has admitted to holding over 75,000 such records, but has only produced about 150 or so in response to a lawsuit from the transparency organization Judicial Watch.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
