Several Secret Service Agents helping former President Donald Trump after he was struck by a bullet in the ear during the rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds on Saturday, July 13, 2024. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle

Butler County Commissioner Leslie Osche said Wednesday, Aug. 14, that the July 13 rally for former President Donald Trump appeared to be “under-resourced” — a problem she attributed to a fellow commissioner’s request that the Butler County Sheriff’s Office work under a contract for the event.

The sheriff’s office reportedly provided six deputies for the event, where a gunman attempted to assassinate Trump, according to Sheriff Mike Slupe. One rallygoer was killed, two were seriously injured, Trump was grazed in the ear and the shooter was killed by the Secret Service.

Despite a request by Kevin Boozel, the lone Democratic commissioner on the three-person board, that the sheriff’s office secure a contract before providing security related to the rally, no contract was put in place, Slupe confirmed Wednesday.

“It seems that there was an effort to avoid overtime to reduce the number of people that might have been available,” Osche said. “I don’t have any proof of that. It appeared that we were under-resourced.”

In a Tuesday email, Osche said Boozel “made it clear” the Democratic National Committee would file right-to-know requests and scrutinize every expenditure made on the rally. She said Wednesday that she questions if that potential financial review could have reduced the resources used at the July 13 rally.

Osche said the county has been flooded with right-to-know requests for information about the rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds and the shooting that took place there, but the county has not received any right-to-know requests from the DNC.

Boozel said Wednesday that he had hoped to avoid excessive right-to-know requests by having a contract to fall back on.

“One of the things a contract does is protect us if we have to go to court,” Boozel said. “It’s unique in that the sheriff was asked by Secret Service. Even if we just discussed it, even if it were a memorandum of understanding, it should have been part of our plan.”

Boozel said Wednesday, that he would have pushed for the sheriff to secure a contract no matter the party affiliation of a visiting political candidate.

Boozel added that a contract between the sheriff’s office and the Trump campaign or even the Butler Farm Show would have provided information on the personnel at the rally, their instructions, their hours and rate of pay.

According to Osche, 13 deputies were at a Trump rally held in October 2020. Six were at the July event, according to Slupe. She said there was no talk of a contract at the earlier rally.

Osche said she was contacted by Slupe before the rally out of courtesy and then later “because he received a call from Boozel saying he wanted a contract”

“The contracts were not meant for this type of event. We were very clear with him that you are the sheriff, if you are contacted by some level of law enforcement for mutual aid, that is your prerogative,” Osche said.

Osche emphasized Wednesday that the sheriff has the autonomy to coordinate his own response for requests for service, so it is up to Slupe to decide if the department would secure a contract for its services.

Slupe said Wednesday his office worked with the Secret Service, which asked that the department provide security inside the farm show grounds in Connoquenessing Township, where the rally took place.

The sheriff’s office provided six deputies, and Slupe said they worked for comp time, so they accrued an hour-and-a-half of time off for every hour they worked.

“The sheriff was within his purview as a separately elected official to respond to public safety requests as deemed necessary as long as he worked within the confines of the budget we approve for him,” Osche said.

It was mutual aid, rather than a private event needing a contract, she said.

Geyer also said she would not expect federal agencies to enter into a contract with local law enforcement.

“This was a different situation, this wasn’t like having a contract with the farm show for traffic control, this was for the Secret Service and mutual aid assistance,” Geyer said. “I didn’t think we needed a contract per se, and the same if President (Joe) Biden or (Vice President) Kamala Harris came into town. We would treat the situation the same.”

Slupe also said his office has complied with right-to-know requests it has received, which have also been numerous.

“There’s definitely a lot of (right-to-knows), most of them filed through officers through the email,” Slupe said. “We’ve provided the information that we have, and basically lawyers have to look over it to look at what is exempt.”

Slupe said his office has not been contacted by anyone with the Trump campaign or the Secret Service about Trump’s statement that he will return to Butler County in October. However, he said his office would still provide deputies to such an event if asked.

Boozel said he’d still like to see a contract for future events.

“The three Butler County Commissioners do not agree on everything, but over the past eight and a half years, despite our differences and disagreements on various issues, we have demonstrated a united front,” Geyer said.

“It is unfortunate that this situation differed. Partisan politics should never play a role when it comes to the public’s safety as there is no price you can put on a human life,” she said.

This story was updated at 7:12 p.m., Aug. 16, to reflect that six sheriff’s deputies were present at the July 13 rally, according to a previous interview with Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe. A previous version of this story incorrectly said that seven deputies were present.