Small town of Butler grapples with tragedy after Trump rally attack

Butler, Pa. – No one in Butler, Pa. – population 13,000 – ever imagined their quiet community would become the backdrop to an attempted presidential assassination. 

But on July 13, 2024, gunman Thomas Mathew Crooks opened fire at a rally for once and future President Donald Trump at the local farm showgrounds, a burst of violence that reverberated far beyond western Pennsylvania’s rolling hills and changed the course of American history. 

One bullet grazed Trump’s ear and could have ended his life had he tilted his head even slightly. In the months that followed, Republicans rallied fiercely behind him. Trump went on to win re-election in a wave of support, with backers, and Trump himself, saying God had spared him to save America.

Residents and rally attendees are still stunned that their town became synonymous with the attack, and saddened that Butler’s image as a peaceful farm community has been overshadowed by that dark day.

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“For something like this to thrust Butler into the national and the international spotlight, it’s very sad,” J.D. Longo, mayor of Slippery Rock, told Fox News Digital.

“It’s not what anybody in Butler or western Pennsylvania wants to be known for,” Longo said. “This is a place where you can start a family if you want to, have a great life.”

But most of all, their hearts break for the family of the firefighter who lost his life when Crooks fired eight shots directed at Trump.

“Many of us hope that, despite the ugliness and the horror of that day and the obvious loss of life that occurred, by way of losing Corey Comperatore, that Butler County can be remembered more for the way in which we unified immediately following that moment and how we came to the aid and the defense of the Comperatore family and of the president.”

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There is pride in how Butler came together after the tragedy. But some can’t forget why it had to. 

“It definitely put us in a rough spot,” said Zach Scherer, a Butler local who volunteered for multiple Trump campaigns. “There’s some people here that think about this all the time.”

“Many of us hope that, despite the ugliness and the horror of that day and the obvious loss of life that occurred, by way of losing Corey Comperatore, that Butler County can be remembered more for the way in which we unified immediately following that moment and how we came to the aid and the defense of the Comperatore family and of the president.”

“We feel really bad for Butler,” said Erin Autenreith of Glenshaw, Pennsylvania, a longtime Trump campaign volunteer and rally-goer.

“I’ve gone to the farm show for years,” she added, referring to the annual event that draws families from across western Pennsylvania. She described one of her favorite attractions – an area where cows walk in to be milked and a building next door that has vanilla milkshakes made from that milk. “It’s just so wholesome. My husband likes the truck pull,” she said. 

“It’s always been something we looked forward to, and now it’s tied to this.”

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The Butler Farm Show, which allowed the Trump campaign to use its property for the rally, is also attempting to shake the association with the shooting. Members of the media are not permitted to film on the property. 

“It’s put a stain on a really nice community,” said Autenreith. “It’s only 45 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh. it’s like you’re transformed into, you know, a little bit like, I would say Iowa.”

Still, Butler residents say the shooting did not break the community. In the days and weeks after, they pulled together to support the Comperatore family and others affected by the violence. 

“The general Pittsburgh area, we’re pretty tough right here – as the president would refer to as tough cookies,” said Bob Crankovic.  

Lucie Roth, who had been seated just behind Trump at the Butler rally, said she didn’t hesitate to return. “The very next rally that [Trump] had, I was right behind him again.”