The Intercept has taken legal action by filing a lawsuit on Monday against county officials in Pennsylvania to demand the release of 911 recordings from the July rally where former President Donald Trump was targeted in an apparent assassination attempt. Despite the significant public interest in these recordings, Butler County is refusing to provide them without a court order.
Months after the shooting on July 13, uncertainties persist about the timeline of law enforcement response and coordination, including when rally attendees first alerted authorities about the gunman on a nearby roof. Body camera footage released by police from Butler Township depicts their rapid response from various viewpoints.
Butler County claims that releasing the 911 calls could compromise ongoing investigations into the incident.
“Simply put, transparency cannot exist without public access,” stated Melissa Bevan Melewsky, media law counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. “The county should reconsider its decision to withhold the recordings so that the public can gain a better understanding of the events and work towards preventing similar attacks in the future.”
Shortly after the shooting, The Intercept requested copies of the 911 calls from Butler County under Pennsylvania’s right-to-know law. Other news outlets, including Scripps News and NBC News, also sought the same information and filed lawsuits against the county on the same day.
“These records can provide insight into what transpired that day and the timeliness of law enforcement response,” said Pennsylvania attorney Joy Ramsingh, representing The Intercept in the lawsuit against Butler County. “It is crucial for the media to access authentic public records directly rather than relying on filtered information from official statements.” Ramsingh is also representing Scripps and NBC in their quest for the 911 records.
Butler County rejected all three outlets’ requests citing a provision in the Pennsylvania public records statute that typically exempts 911 recordings from disclosure.
“We only release 911 audio under court order or subpoena,” a county clerk stated in an email to The Intercept. “Therefore, your request is denied.”
However, Pennsylvania law grants Butler County the discretion to release the recordings if “the public interest in disclosure outweighs the interest in nondisclosure.”
The Intercept’s lawsuit argues that Butler County’s failure to exercise this discretion constitutes “bad faith” under state law.
“It is hard to imagine a scenario where the public interest in disclosure is not paramount, given the political, historical, and national significance of this assassination attempt,” states The Intercept’s court petition. “The voting public, irrespective of political affiliation, has a profound interest in understanding the events at the Butler rally and the government’s response.”
In July, The Intercept appealed Butler County’s denial to the state Office of Open Records. Despite acknowledging the heightened public interest in the records, the OOR sided with Butler County, stating it lacked the authority to overturn the decision to withhold the 911 tapes.
The Intercept’s lawsuit challenges OOR’s interpretation of its authority.
“The entire nation deserves to know how the government dealt with this threat against a former president,” said David Bralow, The Intercept’s general counsel. “We take our responsibility to uphold public accountability seriously.”
