The campaign has moved on, as has the media. But for the family of Corey Comperatore, who was killed at the July 13 Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, there is only a desperate need to find justice.
“I know he would want me to get to the bottom of this. I know he would,” said Helen Comperatore, the widow of the 50-year-old rallygoer slain in the hail of bullets aimed at the stage where former President Donald Trump was speaking, according to WTAE-TV,
“I want justice for my husband, and I’m going to get it,” she said, noting that she has hired an attorney to ensure her family is not forgotten.
Even more than politicians questioning the Secret Service, family members want answers from the officials in charge of security for the event.
“I just want them to know, I think my dad’s blood is on their hands, and I hope they wake up every day thinking about what they took from our family,” said Kaylee Comperatore, one daughter of the slain volunteer firefighter.
“Because we have to wake up every day and see that image of our father in our head, and no child should ever have to see that,” she said.
Family members know that Comperatore acted to save their lives.
“He definitely was a hero. He saved his wife. He saved his child, and he was just the best guy. He was just the best,” his widow said.
Allyson Comperatore knows she is alive because of her father’s final act.
“I was the one that my dad threw down. As he was throwing me down, that is when he was shot, and he ended up falling on me,” she said. “I don’t remember any other shots. In that moment, I was trying to take care of him. I was really confused when he was on me.”
“I had turned around. I went, ‘Dad’ — he fell down, and that’s when I started screaming, and I was trying to keep him from bleeding,” she said.
“I started screaming, but in my head, I kept saying, ‘Wake up. This is a dream,’” Kaylee Comperatore said. “And then you realize, it’s not a dream, and you feel like your whole world is just over.”
David Dutch, 57, a rallygoer who was wounded in the shooting, was released from the hospital last month.
“David, his wife, Sheree, and the rest of the Dutch family wish to express their sincerest gratitude for the enormous level of support that they have received from their friends, their fellow Americans, and everyone else, whether domestic or abroad, that have kept David and his family in their prayers,” the Dutch family said in a statement, according to Fox News.
The statement thanked “the brave men and women that saved his life, including, but not limited to, the police officers, the medics, the life flight crew, and the medical professionals of Allegheny General Hospital, as well as those who continue to care for him as he navigates the road to recovery.”
“Further, David and his family wish to express their thoughts and prayers for the family of Corey Comperatore, who died a hero while shielding his wife and daughters from oncoming gunfire at the rally, for James Copenhaver, who survived two gunshot wounds at the rally while exercising his fundamental right to freely express his support for a political candidate, and for President Trump, who did not cower in face of danger and continues his fight to make America great again and restore America’s position as the most powerful and economically sound country in the world,” the statement said.
Copenhaver, 74, said through attorney Joseph Feldman of the Law Offices of Max C. Feldman in Pittsburgh, that America must get back on course.
“Overall, he just wants people to understand how unnecessary it was and that the political divide in this country has become so great [that] people are literally willing to attend rallies where people are exercising their First Amendment rights and start firing bullets into crowds,” Feldman said, according to Fox News.
“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.”
Copenhaver “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,” Feldman said.
