USA · updated 1h ago · 2 min read
James Copenhaver Dies After Being Shot During Donald Trump 2024 Butler Rally
James Copenhaver, 76, died in Pittsburgh from injuries sustained at the Butler rally shooting. One of three attendees wounded in the July 13, 2024 assassination attempt.
13 outlets told this the same way.
9 of 11 outlets skipped it: cause and manner of death were pending.
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Copenhaver Dies in Pittsburgh
James Copenhaver, 76, died on Wednesday in Pittsburgh after being shot during Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to officials and his family attorney. Pennsylvania State Police said Copenhaver was one of three attendees struck when a gunman opened fire at the rally on July 13, 2024, and ABC News reported that Copenhaver was “gravely wounded” in the shooting.
The Allegheny County Office of the Medical Examiner told ABC News that the cause and manner of death are pending. Joseph Feldman said Copenhaver died “surrounded by his loved ones,” and Trump called Copenhaver a “true American Patriot” in a statement on social media Thursday.
Complications and Lawsuit
Pennsylvania attorney general said Copenhaver passed away from complications stemming from his injuries, and the BBC reported that he was struck twice when a gunman opened fire from a nearby rooftop. Copenhaver died on Wednesday at a hospital in Pittsburgh, and the Allegheny County medical examiner’s statement was shared with local media.
Copenhaver’s lawyer, Joseph Feldman, said in a statement that Copenhaver died “surrounded by his loved ones,” while NPR reported that the statement did not specify if his death was directly related to the injuries he suffered at the rally. Copenhaver and his wife, Marianne Copenhaver, sued the federal government in June, alleging that the Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security had “utterly failed” to provide appropriate security at the rally.
Aftermath and Accountability
Trump’s rally shooting also killed Corey Comperatore and injured David Dutch, and ABC News said the gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, fired up to eight shots from the roof of a nearby building before a Secret Service sharpshooter shot and killed him. ABC News reported that Trump was grazed in the ear by a bullet, and Copenhaver died at a hospital in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
“The lawsuit described the wounds as ‘debilitating, grievous, permanent and life altering.’”
The BBC said Trump called Copenhaver a “true American patriot” in a post on Truth Social, and it quoted Trump describing how “Jim and so many other wonderful Patriots who love our Country, stood united in defense of our shared values of Freedom, Liberty, and Justice.” NPR said Copenhaver’s injuries required multiple surgeries, including a transection of his colon, and it described the lawsuit’s wounds as “debilitating, grievous, permanent and life altering.”