Screenshot of X taken on July 22, 2024
At the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, opened fire on Trump and shot and killed Comperatore, a 50-year-old firefighter and father of two, who died trying to protect his family from the gunfire. Two other audience members, David Duch and James Copenhaver, were also wounded, according to Pennsylvania State Police.
On the final night of the Republican National Convention, Trump gave a 90-minute speech accepting the party’s presidential nomination, with Comperatore’s firefighter jacket and helmet carried by an honor guard. Trump called Comperatore and another injured bystander “warriors” and kissed the former fire chief’s helmet.
Donald Trump accepted the party’s nomination on the final day of the 2024 Republican National Convention by kissing a helmet and firefighter’s jacket that belonged to Corey Comperatore.
Kamil Krzaczynski AFP
But convention planners did not produce replica uniforms with the misspelled name Comperatore; prior to the Republican National Convention, the jackets had “Compertore” printed on the back.
The day after the shooting, the fire department posted an image on Facebook of the same misspelling on Comperatore’s jacket (archived here ).
In response to a question about the spelling difference in the name, the Buffalo Township Fire Department commented on the post that Comperatore was aware of the spelling error but chose not to correct it.
“The spelling on his jacket was incorrect years ago but Corey left it in,” one comment read.
“Corey hasn’t changed it and we’re leaving it as it is. It may be confusing, but it was Corey’s choice to change it and he didn’t change it.”
A screenshot of a Buffalo Township Fire Department Facebook comment taken on July 22, 2024.
Buffalo Township Fire Department officials did not respond to AFP requests for further comment.
A party spokesman referred AFP to additional reports that Comperatore’s 11-letter name was misspelled because it was too long to fit on the jacket, but declined to comment further.
AFP denies other claims about Donald Trump here.
