Former President Donald Trump honored Corey Comperatore at a rally in Pennsylvania on Wednesday in his first stop in the Keystone State since he was nearly assassinated and Comperatore was fatally shot.
During his rally in Harrisburg, Trump began by talking about Comperatore, a 50-year-old firefighter who was killed by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks as he tried to take out Trump at a rally in Butler on July 13. Two other rally attendees were critically injured.
“Most of all we lift the memory, our memory, to the brave firefighter who was so cruelly taken from us,” Trump said. “A very brave guy. Loved by his family and his friends. He was really loved.”
“In his last act on this earth, Corey threw himself over his wife and daughters and died shielding them from the bullets,” Trump added. “Corey is a hero to all of us.”
Trump talked about the fundraising efforts for Comperatore’s family, saying that one of his friends had donated $1 million to Comperatore’s wife. A GoFundMe page backed by the former president for Comperatore and the other rally victims has reached more than $6.5 million.
“We will carry Corey’s spirit of love and devotion and patriotism for all time. And we will never forget Corey or his beautiful family,” Trump said, calling for a moment of silence.
The other two victims, former Marine David Dutch and James Copenhaver, are recovering, Trump said Wednesday. He praised the doctors who treated them after the shooting, thanking them for their work.
Copenhaver told Fox News Wednesday that he “is unafraid to voice his support for Trump, and he will not allow those who disagree with his views to silence him or prevent him from exercising his rights.”
“He’s 74 years old. He’s been around a long time. He’s witnessed a lot take place in this country. And this is definitely one of the worst things that he’s experienced as an American, and he wants people to understand that it does not have to be like this,” attorney Max Feldman said.
At Wednesday’s rally, Trump focused on going after Vice President Kamala Harris, saying that the Democratic Party installed her without any votes. He pointed out her previous criticism of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and promises to ban fracking, calling her a “radical Left puppet who is fake, fake, fake.”
Trump is expected to return to Butler for a rally later this year.
