OAN Staff Sophia Flores
9:01 PM – Thursday, July 18, 2024
During his speech on the final night of the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump took a moment to honor Corey Comperatore, the man who was killed during an assassination attempt on the 45th president during his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
When Trump took the stage for his prime-time address, he was accompanied by Comperatore’s firefighting helmet and jacket. Trump walked over to Comperatore’s items early on in his speech and kissed the helmet.
Comperatore’s last name was misspelled on his fire jacket intentionally, as there was only enough space on the coat for a certain number of letters.
Trump then walked back to the microphone and called for the audience to take a moment of silence to honor the 50-year-olds memory.
Comperatore sacrificed his life to save his family. When the bullets rang out, his first instinct was to protect his family from the gunfire.
“He was incredible, he was a highly respected former fire chief,” Trump said. “…He lost his life selflessly acting as a human shield to protect them from flying bullets. He went right over the top of them and was hit. What a fine man he was.”
Trump had only been talking for a few minutes in Butler when gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on the former president. The 20-year-old was aiming for Trump’s head. Trump moved his head to look at a chart on the screen. With this move the bullet pierced his right ear instead, saving him from a certain death.
Comperatore was sitting in the bleachers behind where Trump was speaking at the time of the attack.
While no one else was killed, bystanders David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74, were both shot. They are expect to make a full recovery.
Soon after the shooting, Trump created a GoFundMe page to raise money for the families of the three victims of the shooting.
He notified the RNC audience that as of Thursday evening, more than $6 million had been raised for the victims.
Comperatore is survived by his wife and two daughters.
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