BY KRISTOPHER SEALS
A matter of millimeters was the difference between a man continuing a presidential campaign and the end of his life.
July 13th, 2024 will go down as one of the most infamous days in American history. During a rally in Butler, PA, former President Donald J. Trump campaigned before thousands of supporters in the Keystone State. At around 6:11 p.m., Trump turned his head to the side to point out statistics on immigration, a simple action that is usually nothing out of the ordinary. That simple action quite possibly saved his life, as a sniper’s bullet clipped his right ear but missed his skull.
Trump then got the ground quickly as a Secret Service sniper on an adjacent roof engaged the shooter and shot him dead on top of an AGR International Inc. building, just 130 yards from where Trump was speaking. Secret Service agents on the ground surrounded Trump swiftly during the gunfire. Despite the frightening circumstances, Trump got up and asked to put his shoes on.
Then, with blood on his face, he pumped his fist in the air, and shouted, “FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!” in a moment that will be remembered for generations. The crowd responded to his call with, “USA! USA! USA!” as the 45th President was whisked away from the scene. After being treated at a local medical facility, Trump departed for New Jersey. He stayed at Bedminster before heading to Milwaukee, WI for the Republican National Convention to accept the Party’s nomination for the 2024 Presidential Election. On July 15, Trump tapped Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate in November.
With Trump miraculously safe and sound, the matter turned to the other elements of the day. First, the shooter: Thomas Matthew Crooks, age 20, of Bethel Park, PA. He was armed with an AR-15 5.56x45mm NATO weapon that belonged to his father. While he was a registered Republican, he did donate to a progressive organization on the day that President Joseph R. Biden was inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States.
Upon getting to the roof, a local cop confronted Crooks, who then fled after Crooks pointed the aforementioned rifle at him. After he was downed by the Secret Service sniper, authorities found his van, which was full of explosives. The investigation into Crooks, including his possible motive, is still under investigation.
Next: the victims other than the surviving Trump. The western Pennsylvania town of Sarver – including the Lernerville Speedway and the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Department – are in mourning for Corey Comperatore, 50, who died while shielding his wife and daughter from the bullets of the lone gunman.
Lernerville officials said that Comperatore was on the .4-mile clay oval’s property the night before being a member of its safety crew. The 20-year member was also known to hold 50/50 fundraisers for the Buffalo fire department.
BTVFD firefighters meanwhile draped mourning bunting and displayed Comperatore’s uniform at their Company 27 headquarters Sunday. He was a lifelong volunteer firefighter and a former fire chief.
Colleagues and neighbors told reporters that Comperatore was a family and community-oriented man who would help neighbors at an instant. One said that Corey would have shielded a perfect stranger had he or she happened to sit next to him that Saturday night.
A GoFundMe.com page has been established to help with Comperatore’s funeral and for the other two injured men’s expenses. The Pennsylvania State Police said, on July 14, that David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Twp., were admitted to a local Butler hospital in stable condition.
Comperatore’s funeral arrangements, which may include a July 20 tribute at Lernerville, were not finalized as of press time.
Then, the security – or concerning lack thereof. First, why was the roof that Crooks perched on not secured, especially at a distance slightly larger than a standard 120-yard football field (100 yards plus the two 10-yard end zones)? Second, where were the drones? The government, specifically the Secret Service, has access to drones that can canvass an area to ensure that shooters or bad actors can be spotted quickly.
Also, why was there no Secret Service protection for candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.? He knows all about presidential assassinations, as his father Robert Sr. was assassinated in 1968, while his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in 1963. In the wake of the Trump shooting, he has now been granted that protection.
Last but not least, can President Biden and other Democrats act without bias in these matters concerning Trump? Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) spoke out against the shooting, but was one of the main Democratic leaders calling for Trump to lose Secret Service protection in the wake of being convicted in the NY Hush Money trial. The very same representative had to let go of a staffer who went on social media and lamented that he shooter “missed.” As for the aforementioned trial, its sentencing phase was paused due to an issue with admitted evidence that could have violated the July 1 Supreme Court ruling on Presidential Immunity.
In addition, several figures in the Democratic Party have used rhetoric comparing Trump to Hitler and even called for violence against him, with Maxine Waters once saying at an event, “I will go and take Trump out tonight,” and Biden once famously saying at another event, “if we were in high school, I’d take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him.”
Many conspiracy theorists claimed that the whole thing was staged. However, it is not fake. A firefighter is dead, along with a disturbed 20-year-old, a presidential candidate and two other men were injured in the 338th of 345 mass shootings in 2024 as of press time.
Walter Elliott contributed to this report.
