Tipsheet

Trump Returns to Butler Pennsylvania for the First Time Since Assassination Attempt

Sarah Arnold
Sarah Arnold  |  October 05, 2024 12:00 PM

Former President Donald Trump is holding onto his promise of returning to the site where 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Cooks fired several shots at the former president just moments into his rally. 

On Saturday, Trump will take the stage in Butler, Pennsylvania just months after he barely survived an assassination attempt. With  Pennsylvania being a crucial battleground state in the 2024 election, Trump has unfinished business in the town after his previous rally had been cut short. 

“I said that day when I was shot, I said, ‘We’re coming back. We’re going to come back.’ And I’m fulfilling a promise,” Trump told NewsNation. “I’m fulfilling, really, an obligation.”

While holding a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, last weekend, Trump told the crowd of his plans for his speech at Butler: “I think I’ll start the speech by saying, ‘As I was saying.’”

According to a senior Trump campaign adviser, Trump’s second Butler, Pennsylvania rally will differ from his usual ones. The former president plans to use the rally as a remembrance for Corey Comperatore, the father and husband who was shot and killed that day, and for David Dutch and James Copenhaver, who were injured. 

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Officials have promised to beef up security measures and be taken more seriously the second time. 

Trump will be surrounded by ballistic glass— a security measure for all his outdoor rallies. 

Additionally, federal officials told CNN that the buildings where Crooks took his position would have a “much higher security footprint, with people on the rooftop. 

Pennsylvania State Police will also work with the Secret Service and be on high alert.

“We are coordinating closely with the Pennsylvania State Police as well as local law enforcement in and around Butler Township. We are also leveraging other federal security resources to expand personnel and technology,” Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi said. 

Hundreds of people are expected to attend the rally, and lines are forming more than 12 hours before the event.