Breaking: ‘He Did Not Stop Our Movement’: Trump Shows Resilience during Return to Site of Assassination Attempt in Butler

Butler, Pa. — Former president Donald Trump delivered a speech that began more solemnly than most on Saturday, when he returned to the site of his attempted assassination for the first time to celebrate the unity and resiliency of his movement and the life of the man who was killed at his July rally.

It’s been nearly three months since 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks fired on Trump during a rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds. Crooks shot at Trump from the top of a nearby building, grazing the former president in the ear, killing firefighter Corey Comperatore, and injuring two others. 

Trump turned the attack into an iconic moment, emerging bloodied from the ground with Secret Service protection but stopping to pump his fist into the air and say, "Fight, fight, fight!" before being whisked off the stage. 

“Exactly twelve weeks ago this evening, on this very ground, a cold-blooded assassin aimed to silence me and to silence the greatest movement — MAGA  – in the history of this country,” Trump said. “For 16 harrowing seconds during the gunfire, time stopped as this vicious monster unleashed pure evil from his sniper’s perch not so far away. But by the hand of province and by the grace of God that villain did not succeed in his goal. He did not come close. He did not stop our movement. He did not break our spirit.”

The former president made an appeal to Americans of all political stripes, saying, “Our movement, it belongs to you. It belongs to our country.”

Several special guests were in attendance at the rally on Saturday evening, including relatives of Comperatore, who died from a head wound while shielding his family from the gunman's bullets, and Dr. Jim Sweetland, the doctor who performed CPR on one of the victims during the shooting.

“When the sound of gunshots pierced the air on that July evening, Corey leapt into the fire one more time,” Trump said. “In his last seconds on this Earth, he threw himself on his wife and daughters. He didn’t want them hurt.”

Steven Kosak, a volunteer firefighter of 30 years from Emsworth, PA., told National Review he felt called to attend the rally on Saturday in honor of Comperatore, a fellow firefighter. He brought along his own medal of valor that he earned for two saves on the job and gave it to the Trump team in an effort to get it to Comperatore’s wife.

"Firefighters are one big brotherhood and when one of us goes down, we all go down,” Kosak said. "It's two in, two out and he didn't make it back out, so I'm here in his honor."

BUTLER, PA—Enormous turnout today for Trump rally at site of first assassination attempt pic.twitter.com/OaRu4xd8gF

— Audrey Fahlberg (@AudreyFahlberg) October 5, 2024

Other notable guests at Saturday evening’s rally included Tesla CEO Elon Musk; Trump's running mate, Senator J. D. Vance; Representative Cory Mills (R., Fla.); and U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick.

Musk briefly spoke on stage, drawing a stark comparison between Trump and President Biden.

"The true test of someone's character is how they behave under fire,” the billionaire told the crowd. “We had one President who couldn't climb a flight of stairs and another who is fist pumping after getting shot."

He went on to urge Americans to vote next month, warning ominously that the upcoming election could be the country’s last if people don’t vote.

Ahead of Saturday’s rally, Secret Service chief of communications Anthony Guglielmi said the agency had "made comprehensive changes and enhancements to our communications capabilities, resourcing, and protective operations," in the wake of the assassination attempt in Butler and a second apparent assassination attempt at Trump’s West Palm Beach, Fla., golf course.

Secret Service agents thwarted the second assassination attempt when they spotted would-be assassin Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, hiding in the bushes with an AK-47-style rifle behind a chain-link fence about 400 to 500 yards away from the former president. Agents opened fire on Routh, who fled the golf course and was later apprehended by local authorities. He has pleaded not guilty to five federal charges. 

Meanwhile, several security failures allowed for the assassination attempt in Butler, including the use of three separate radio systems, which created communication delays between the varying law-enforcement entities on the scene. Having learned from this mistake, authorities said there would be one radio system for state and local police and a second for the Secret Service on Saturday, with a Secret Service agent set to be embedded with each state and local team.

The Butler County Emergency Services Agency planned to serve as a unified communications bridge between the United States Secret Service, state and local police, fire, and EMS, according to Butler County commissioner Leslie Osche. 

The security failures at the first rally ultimately led to the resignation of Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle.

Speaking before Trump took the stage on Saturday, Vance criticized Democrats and the media for their continued inflammatory rhetoric about the former president.

"Even after that terrible assassination attempt that took one man's life and nearly took many others, they continue to use dangerous, inflammatory rhetoric," Vance told the crowd. "The media has continued to call Donald Trump, the guy who actually won his primary, a threat to Democracy."

And to Vice President Kamala Harris, he said, “How dare you talk about threats to democracy? Donald Trump took a bullet for democracy, what the Hell have you done?"

The presidential race has changed substantially since Trump’s last visit to Butler, when he was still facing off in the general election against President Biden, who dropped out of the race just two weeks after the assassination attempt.

The Saturday rally was held just one month before Election Day. A RealClearPolitics national polling average has Harris up 2.2 percentage points. The polling average in Pennsylvania finds both candidates tied.