Northwoods lawmakers, sheriffs react to Trump assassination attempt

Former President Donald Trump was nearly shot dead on July 13 in the midst of a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania, just north of Pittsburgh. 

The shooter, later identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed after his gunshot nicked the right ear of Trump, critically injured two spectators and killed 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief who died while trying to protect his family. 

Crooks was said to have used an AR-style rifle in his attack and multiple reports of suspicious behavior by Crooks leading up to the assassination attempt have been made public.

While many are left wondering how something like this could have happened, President Joe Biden has ordered a review of the incident and members of Congress have said it will be investigated. 

Trump subsequently made an appearance at the Republican National Convention (RNC)  in Milwaukee. He was first seen at the convention on Monday, two days after what had happened in Pennsylvania, with a white bandage on his ear. 

He had not spoken at the convention as of press time the morning of Wednesday, July 17. 

The Lakeland Times decided to contact Northwoods lawmakers this week for their reactions in the aftermath of the attempted assassination. 

Wasn’t surprised

“We will be doing a complete investigation on this and it will not be done by the intelligence agencies,” Congressman Tom Tiffany (R-WI-07) told the Times on Tuesday. “We cannot trust (U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro) Mayorkas, we cannot trust the (Federal Bureau of Investigations) Director (Christopher) Wray to do a thorough investigation as far as what happened and the reforms that need to come from it. So, that will be coming.”

Tiffany said he wasn’t “entirely surprised” an assassination attempt occurred.

“You see the incendiary rhetoric and sometimes people are emboldened to make something like this happen,” he said.

Tiffany referenced House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA-1), who was shot in 2017 as the result of a politically fueled attack. 

Scalise, on the evening of Trump being targeted, said in a statement Democrats were the ones “fueling ludicrous hysteria that Donald Trump winning re-election would be the end of democracy” and that the rhetoric they use “must stop.”

“I sit in the judiciary committee and I hear week after week, Donald Trump is a threat to democracy,” Tiffany told the Times. “And when you portray someone as a threat like that continually, sometimes people are going to act out as we saw with someone like Steve Scalise when he was shot up by a Bernie Sanders supporter just practicing for the Congressional baseball game.”

The focus should be on policy, Tiffany said. 

“So many people want to make these political arguments about personalities and that’s not what this is about,” he said. “This is about what we are going to do for the American people. Because at this point, with inflation, the border, weak foreign policy, high energy prices … the American people are asking ‘What are you going to do for us?’ and getting into these personality debates gets in the way of having good policy reforms in Washington D.C. that are actually going to help the American people.”

That’s what Tiffany said he’s focused on. 

“The American people know what the problems are and we need to fix them,” he said.

‘It’s just not right’

State Senator Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) told the Times she feels what happened to Trump “was an utter and total failure by the Secret Service, which is controlled by President Biden.”

Felzkowski indicated she’s curious to see the results of federal investigations. 

“Yesterday, I was at an event for the RNC,” she said. “Donald Trump Jr. spoke and … (it was) a very emotional event. I mean, Donald Trump came within … millimeters of being assassinated.”

Felzkowski expressed disbelief recounting the actions Crooks took to position himself on top of a roof roughly 150 yards away from where the former president was speaking.

“There’s just so many things here,” she said. “ … I’m just as shocked as everybody else to find out what is the truth behind all of this. I’m struggling to believe a 20-year-old pulled this off all on his own.”

Felzkowski also spoke to the rhetoric Republicans are saying Democrats used to induce this sort of attempt. 

She said Biden saying it’s “time to put Trump in the bulls-eye” and Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA-43) saying Trump is “a pure racist” are claims that are “of course” going to “fuel violence.”

“And now they’re saying Republicans have to tone it down,” Felzkowski said. “I don’t think it’s Republicans that need to tone it down. (Democrats) have been attacking this man for the last eight years and, at some point, they have to own that they’re a big part of (inciting) this violence.”

State Representative Rob Swearingen (R-Rhinelander) told the Times “it was a pretty dark day for the country and for democracy when that happened.”

“To me, there’s no place for political violence,” he said. “You know, if you don’t like a candidate, Americans should be voting at the polls.”

Swearingen said it was really sad for him to realize a person “attended a Trump rally and didn’t come home.”

“It’s just not right,” he said. “ … I was a little disappointed that President Biden didn’t come out sooner with his message.”

Swearingen said he didn’t see all of Biden’s message in the aftermath of the attempt on Trump’s life, but added he felt, from what he did see, Biden was on “kind of the right track with what he did that night much later after the incident.”

Swearingen attended the RNC on Monday and said he saw Trump “clearly had his ear bandaged up and seemed to be in good spirits.”

He said all he could think about at the time was how close the former president came to being killed. 

“And that’s a pretty scary thing,” he said. “So you have to sit back and take a deep breath as to … what really happened there that afternoon.”

From both sides, Swearingen admitted, the rhetoric in politics has been “over the top.”

“Maybe this is what it’ll take to bring the country together and be united for America, and not just for one party or the other,” he said. “But, from my perspective, certainly, Donald Trump was a strong individual that afternoon, and I think that resonated strongly with the attendees at the RNC.”

A law enforcement perspective

Vilas County sheriff Joe Fath said he wanted to see what comes from more investigation before fully commenting on the situation.

However, Fath did say he thought what happened on July 13 was a “tragedy.”

“We all need to be sensitive to everybody’s security,” he said. “You can see the mood of everybody’s political tempo has changed … I just think that it was a tragic incident.”

Oneida County sheriff Grady Hartman said he was “sad and afraid for our country” when he got word of the news. 

“I share the same concerns as any normal person has on this ... how did the shooter get the high ground in such an obvious manner? How didn’t the police engage immediately?” he said. “ … It was definitely concerning from a law enforcement perspective.”

Hartman said he thinks America is divided right now and the descriptions and comparisons progressives routinely give of Trump “opened him up to be a target.”

“I do think that the tone needs to be lowered,” he said.

Trevor Greene may be reached via email at [email protected].