Former President Donald Trump will return to Butler, Pennsylvania on Oct. 5 for a campaign rally at the same site where he was nearly assassinated this summer.
It will be the first time Mr. Trump has returned to the Butler Farm Show grounds since his July 13 rally where a gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired at the former president. A bullet grazed his ear and narrowly missed his head as he turned it just before shot to look at a chart displaying border statistics.
Crooks, who climbed on the roof of a building in the adjacent AGR International complex to fire his shots, got off eight rounds before he was killed by a Secret Service sniper. His shots killed one rallygoer, firefighter Corey Comperatore, and injured two others, David Dutch and James Copenhaver.
Mr. Trump will recognize all three victims during his Oct. 5 rally, express “deep gratitude” to law enforcement and first responders and thank the community for its support, his campaign said. Like the event in July, the upcoming rally will take place on a Saturday.
Mr. Trump’s campaign said his return to Butler “will stand as a tribute to the American spirit.”
“In America, we do not let monsters like that evil assassin have the last word,” the campaign said. “Every time our nation is struck by attack or hardship, we rally, we persevere, and we prevail.”
The return visit is unlikely to be without controversy, given security concerns about the site. The Butler Farm Show is a large open field surrounded by multiple buildings on and near the property.
The Secret Service and the Trump staff had “some discussion” about the selection of the farm show grounds as the site for the July rally because the agency and its local law enforcement partners viewed the site “as a challenge” to secure, according to a Secret Service report summarizing its initial findings of its internal review of the assassination attempt.
Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe said during a Friday press conference on the report that the campaign staff has final discretion on what sites it chooses for events, and it is ultimately up to the Secret Service to secure it, whatever the challenges.
“We have very good working relationships with those staffs. But ultimately it is the Secret Service’s responsibility to secure a site,” he said. The Secret Service, under direction from President Biden, has enhanced security for Mr. Trump since the July 13 rally. One of several changes involves the use of ballistic glass for outdoor events.
Rep. Mike Kelly, the Pennsylvania Republican who represents Butler and chairs a House task force investigating the assassination attempt, told The Washington Times in an interview this summer that he urged Mr. Trump’s campaign against holding the July 13 rally at the farm show grounds.
He suggested they hold it at the Butler airport, where Mr. Trump held an event during his presidency, or a similar but much larger site, aptly named the Big Butler Fairgrounds. His suggestions were rebuffed.
But Mr. Kelly told The Times on Wednesday that he does not have the same concerns about Mr. Trump returning to the Butler Farm Show grounds.
“They learned from the first time they went there. They should know now what they’re doing to secure it,” he said.
Mr. Kelly was at the July 13 rally with his family and plans to attend the Oct. 5 event as well.
“That’s my home,” he said. “Sure, I’m going to go. You won’t see me at a Harris rally. You’ll see me at all the Trump rallies.”
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
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