BETHLEHEM, Pa. — During a campaign stop Monday morning, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey voiced support for an investigation into how a gunman was able to come within centimeters of assassinating former President Donald Trump over the weekend.
Speaking to reporters at the Fowler Community Wellness Center on East Fourth Street, Casey repeated his condemnation of the shooting and all political violence.
And while he expressed confidence that the Secret Service has the resources to protect the president and presidential candidates, Casey said someone needs to explain how the suspected gunman was even in a position to pull off the shooting.
"I think there's a way to have vigorous, spirited debate — good old American debate — without preaching violence or even using language that might trigger someone to engage in violence."U.S. Sen. Bob Casey on the line between heated political rhetoric and the calls for political violence
"You don't have to be a law enforcement professional to have lots of questions about why there was a shooter on a building with that kind of sightline to a stage where a presidential candidate is exercising his First Amendment rights to engage in political speech," Casey said.
"Those questions have to be answered. We need to know a lot more about how that happened."
The FBI identified the shooter Saturday night as Thomas Crooks, a 20-year-old Allegheny County man who had not previously interacted with law enforcement.
Authorities say he was able to fire multiple shots with an assault rifle-like weapon from the roof of a building outside the Trump campaign rally's venue.
An armed Butler Township police officer encountered Crooks on the roof minutes before the shooting but did not discharge his weapon, according to CBS News.
Casey has condemned comments
During an interview on CNN that aired during Casey's event, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas described the shooting as a security failure.
Trump, who is set to appear at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee Monday evening, said on social media he was shot in the ear but otherwise fine.
Crooks killed one bystander and seriously wounded two others before he was fatally shot by Secret Service agents, according to the FBI.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said the House will conduct a full investigation into the security failure.
Sen. Gary Peters D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, has announced a separate Senate investigation, as well.
Casey also condemned comments from members of Congress who have blamed President Joe Biden for inciting the assassination attempt.
U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, a frontrunner to be Trump's running mate, said Biden has made Trump's threat to American democracy a key pillar of his campaign.
U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., called on the Butler County district attorney to charge Biden with inciting the assassination attempt.
Today is not just some isolated incident.
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) July 14, 2024
The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs.
That rhetoric led directly to President Trump's attempted assassination.
Biden has accused Trump of rallying a mob to Washington and then pointing it at Congress, leading to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress.
The event is proof that Trump is unfit for office, Biden has repeatedly said on the campaign trail.
Drawing a line
Casey has mirrored Biden's rhetoric on the campaign trail, both in attacks on Trump and on his Senate challenger David McCormick.
During a stop at in Easton this month, Casey said McCormick was backed by right-wing extremists and insurrectionists.
With the Senate so narrowly divided between Democrats and Republicans, the outcome could determine the future of reproductive rights, voter rights and labor rights in America, Casey said.
During a campaign stop in Lehigh County in April, McCormick called the race between himself and Casey the most important in living memory.
He blamed Casey and Biden for the poor economy and crime, saying the two of them had placed the future of the nation at risk.
Casey drew a line between the language he and others have used on the campaign trail. There's a difference between criticizing an opponent or their platform and using violent language, he said.
"We must have spirited debates between the two parties, whether it's on rights or democracy itself," he said. "So I think it will continue.
"But I think there's a way to have vigorous, spirited debate — good old American debate — without preaching violence or even using language that might trigger someone to engage in violence."
Can't 'let the bad guys win'
Casey's comments came after a presentation at the Hispanic Center of the Lehigh Valley in South Bethlehem. Casey helped secure more than $350,000 for its job development program through a partnership with Northampton Community College.
Program participants are eligible for job training, English-as-a-second-language classes, GED classes and other services.
"If all of us as elected officials overcompensate, then we let the bad guys win. We've got to continue to engage with people and be available to people."U.S. Sen. Bob Casey
Security at Casey's event appeared unchanged from past visits this year.
Despite a record of political violence against members in Congress in recent years — the assault of U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi's husband in 2022; the Jan. 6 attack on Congress; and mass shooting during a practice session for the congressional baseball game that seriously wounded U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise in 2017, to name a few — politicians must remain accessible to the American people in order for democracy to work, Casey said.
"If all of us as elected officials overcompensate, then we let the bad guys win," he said. "We've got to continue to engage with people and be available to people."
