James Copenhaver, survivor of Trump rally shooting, dead after complications from injuries
James Copenhaver, of Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, who was wounded in a failed assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in 2024, has died, according to several reports.Copenhaver, in his mid-70s, was one of several people who attempted assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at the Butler Farm Show complex outside Butler, PennsylvaniaCopenhaver, in his mid-70s, was one of several people who attempted assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at the Butler Farm Show complex outside Butler, Pennsylvania, after Crooks scaled the roof of a nearby glass manufacturing building and took aim at the then-presidential candidate.A person who answered a phone number connected to Copenhaver’s family directed Fox News Digital to a Pittsburgh-area law firm for confirmation and further comment.The House Republican Conference posted an obituary for Copenhaver on social media, saying he had died Thursday and that lawmakers were “deeply saddened.”“Jim endured unimaginable hardship with strength and perseverance.We join his family and loved ones in mourning his loss and praying for them during this difficult time.
May he rest in peace,” the caucus said in a statement.Ken Silva, a journalist who wrote a book about the assassination attempt, wrote on his website that a person close to Copenhaver’s family also confirmed Copenhaver had died and had been dealing with permanent injuries, including bullet fragments still lodged in his body.David Dutch was also wounded in the shooting but survived.Butler County firefighter Corey Comperatore was shot and killed in the bleachers behind Trump’s dais that day.Speaking to Pittsburgh’s KDKA in 2025, Copenhaver said he stood to look at the jumbotron behind him as Trump spoke.“Next thing I know, my sleeve has been yanked,” he said.
“I could see a portion of it going by pretty fast, and I heard ‘pew.’ I heard it, and I didn’t realize at the time that I had gotten shot.”He said he was then shot a second time but that the bullets...