As we learned in the Sunday, July 28, edition of the Butler Eagle, former President Donald Trump plans to return to Butler County for a rally to honor Corey Comperatore, the spectator killed during the assassination attempt on Trump during the July 13 rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds.

That is understandable, and Comperatore, who died protecting his family, deserves to be honored.

No details have been announced, and as we learned in Tuesday’s Butler Eagle, local officials said they haven’t been contacted about planning. We hope they are contacted soon, and that the communication is better for the second rally than it was for the first.

Hearings are ongoing, as is the investigation into why Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, tried to assassinate Trump and how he was able to fire eight shots from an AR-15-style rifle from a roof about 150 yards from where Trump was speaking at the campaign rally. But we have learned some very important lessons already.

Communication from the Secret Service was a problem during the rally. Members of the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit were supposed to meet with the Secret Service but that didn’t happen.

An officer from Beaver County ESU spotted Crooks more than an hour before he opened fire and warned their commanders, but those warnings never reached the Secret Service.

And other law enforcement personnel at the rally spotted Crooks and found him suspicious, as well. Their warnings also never got to the people who needed to hear them.

July 13 was a tragedy that took the life of one, seriously wounded two others and shook the entire nation’s sense of security. We have to learn from what happened, and the need for clear communication is an obvious lesson.

— JK