BUTLER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Multi-colored flowers donated by well-wishers dotted the front of the Buffalo Townships Volunteer Fire Department Thursday morning. Amid the colors is a statue of a firefighter holding an American flag, and behind the statue is Firefighter Corey Comperatore’s firefighting gear.
Above his work boots is a black Trump 2024 baseball cap that reads “Never Surrender.” The display honors Comperatore, who died shielding his family from gunfire at Donald Trump’s campaign rally Saturday. A stream of visitors have donated flowers and other goods to the station. Comperatore’s friends and family gathered Thursday in Freeport, a small town on the Allegheny River, to pay their respects. Funeral services will be held Friday at his longtime church in Butler County.
Trump was speaking to a crowd of supporters on the grounds of the Butler Farm Show in Pennsylvania when a gunman opened fire from the roof of a nearby building. Trump, his face covered in blood, was carried off the stage by Secret Service members.
The 50-year-old Republican candidate was killed and two other protesters were seriously injured before a sniper fatally shot the shooter. Trump appeared at the Republican National Convention this week in Milwaukee with a bandage over his injured ear.
Anatomy of a Tragedy:Charts and maps show how the attack unfolded
Crooks searched for “major depressive disorder”
An FBI check of shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks’ phone revealed that it had searched for images of President Joe Biden and Trump, as well as other famous people, in the days leading up to the shooting, The New York Times reported Wednesday, citing U.S. lawmakers briefed on the law enforcement investigation. Other targets of the search included FBI Director Christopher Wray, Attorney General Merrick Garland and a member of the British royal family, according to two officials who spoke to The Times on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter publicly.
Fox News said investigators examining Crooks’ laptop also found searches for Trump, Biden, the date of the DNC convention and Trump’s July 13 rally.
Crooks also searched for “major depressive disorder” on his phone, the Times reported.
Was the online gaming Steam account fake?
Investigators now believe an online gaming account in the name of the man who shot Trump over the weekend is fake, CNN reports, citing a US official briefed on the matter. Multiple outlets, including CNN, Fox News and the Daily Mail, have reported that Secret Service and FBI officials told US senators at a briefing on Wednesday that Matthew Thomas Crooks had posted on Steam that “July 13th will be my first, watch how it plays out.” But the official told CNN that the FBI has revised that assessment.
Steam is a popular platform where millions of gamers communicate and have access to 30,000 games, according to the site. The gaming platform Discord said Crooks was a user, but the company said it found no evidence that Crooks used the platform to “plan this incident, promote violence, or discuss his political views.”
Iran denies assassination plot:US lawmakers criticize secret service response
Cheatle harassed at Republican convention
A group of U.S. senators confronted and then chased Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Wednesday, demanding answers about the shooting. The four-minute video shows a handful of Republican senators peppering Cheatle with questions about security failures at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, including a moment when Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, asks, “Why would anyone allow the president to come on stage when you know you’re facing a potential threat?”
Cheatle declined to answer questions posed to her in the RNC’s security partners’ reception room. She told senators she was “happy to answer questions” but would do so “in an appropriate format.”
“Resign or give us a full explanation right now,” Barrasso can be heard telling Cheatle in a video of the meeting posted to social media by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee. Read more here.
− Karissa Waddick and Savannah Kuchar
Senators hunt down Secret Service director:Demand Answers on Trump Shooting
Social media reactions to shooting have consequences
A professor at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, was placed on unpaid leave for what university officials called an “offensive and unacceptable social media post.” Hours later, John James was no longer employed there, the Louisville Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported. Many people have taken to social media to make jokes and comments about the shooting, and they are facing consequences. A restaurant worker, a fire chief and a political aide are among those who have also lost their jobs or resigned after outrage over their posts, according to statements from their employers and news reports. Read more here.
“No matter how private your life is, everyone has an audience,” said Karen North, a USC professor of digital social media and a psychologist. “And there’s always an audience for people who behave badly.”
− Jeanine Santucci
People across the country have lost their jobsafter posts about Trump shooting
Family of shooting survivor thanks first responders
The injured James Copenhaver, 74, and David Dutch, 57, were listed in serious condition, Allegheny General Hospital said Wednesday. Dutch’s family released a statement thanking the local community and “countless others across the country and the world” for the outpouring of support, prayers and well wishes for the 57-year-old former Marine.
“David and our entire family are especially grateful to all the first responders and medical professionals who saved his life, including the Life Flight and AGH Trauma Surgery teams,” the statement said. “As we focus on David’s recovery, we also offer our deepest sympathies and prayers to the other victims of this tragic event and their families.”.
Secret Service Chief ‘Must Go’:Senators call for his ouster after briefing on Trump attack
Secret Service Director Faces Criticism
Several Republican senators called for new leadership at the Secret Service after a briefing Wednesday on the attack on Trump at a political rally in Pennsylvania. “This was 100 percent a cover-your-ass briefing,” Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, told X. “Somebody died. The president was nearly killed. The head of the Secret Service has to go.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said on X that new leadership at the Secret Service would be a “significant step” toward answers and accountability. Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, said on X that a “group” of senators raised their hands to ask questions of the Secret Service during the briefing, but the call was cut short after just a few questions.
“So much smoke and mirrors,” Lee said in a message. “So little accountability.”
− Tom Vanden Brook, Josh Meyer and Aysha Bagchi
News Source : www.usatoday.com
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