Trump Return To Butler: Expect Tight Security, Vance Appearance

BUTLER, PA — Additional security measures will be in place Saturday when former President Donald Trump returns to the Butler Farm Show, where he narrowly survived an assassination attempt in July.

Trump will appear with running made JD Vance for a 5 p.m. rally. The Republican presidential nominee for months has vowed to go back to the site of his July 13 address that was interrupted when Thomas Crooks opened fire from a nearby rooftop.

Trump suffered a wounded ear in the incident in which three spectators were shot, one fatally. Former fire chief Corey Comperatore, 50, of Sarver, Butler County, died while shielding his family. Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park was killed by a U.S. Secret Service sniper.

Trump told reporters earlier this week that he will pay tribute to Comperatore and the other shooting victims at the rally.

The Secret Service has been roundly criticized for its catastrophic security failures that day. U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, a Butler Republican who chairs a bipartisan congressional committee investigating the assassination attempt, said at a hearing last month, "Had security vulnerabilities not existed, it is entirely plausible (Crooks) might not have even attempted the shooting and returned home."

For the Saturday rally, authorities have said there will be a far greater presence of Secret Service agents who will work in tandem with Pennsylvania State Police, local police departments and EMS organizations. There will be a much wider security perimeter and law enforcement will man the rooftops of all nearby buildings.

Additionally, Trump will speak behind ballistic glass, as he has at all outdoor events since the July shooting.

Crowd estimates for Saturday's event have ranged from 15,000 to 60,000.