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‘Died A Hero’: Former Volunteer Fire Chief Identified By Family As Crowd Member Killed At Trump Rally

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4 minute read

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By HAILEY GOMEZ

 

A crowd member killed on Saturday evening at former President Donald Trump’s Pennsylvania rally is reported to be 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, according to family members on Facebook.

While attending Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Comperatore was fatally shot by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, saving his two daughters in the process by diving onto them to shield the two from gunfire. Comperatore’s sister, wife and daughters posted tributes to the former volunteer fire chief of Buffalo Township on social media.

“The PA Trump Rally claimed the life of my brother, Corey Comperatore. The hatred for one man took the life of the one man we loved the most,” Dawn Comperatore Schafer, Corey Comperatore’s sister, wrote on Facebook.

“He was a hero that shielded his daughters. His wife and girls just lived through the unthinkable and unimaginable,” she continued. “My baby brother just turned 50 and had so much life left to experience. Hatred has no limits and love has no bounds. Pray for my sister-in-law, nieces, my mother, sister, me and his nieces and nephews as this feels like a terrible nightmare but we know it is our painful reality.”

Dawn Comperatore Schafer Facebook Post of Corey's death. (Screenshot/Facebook)

Dawn Comperatore Schafer Facebook Post of Corey’s death. (Screenshot/Facebook)

Helena facebook post (Screenshot/Facebook)

Helena facebook post (Screenshot/Facebook)

Kaylee Comperatore Fabeook Post Of Father (Screenshot/Facebook)

Kaylee Comperatore Facebook Post Of Father (Screenshot/Facebook)

Allyson Comperatore Facebook Post of Father (Screenshot/Facebook)

Allyson Comperatore Facebook Post of Father (Screenshot/Facebook)

Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro held a press conference Sunday afternoon confirming Comperatore’s identity and stating he has spoken with the former fire chief’s family.

“Corey was a girl dad. Corey loved his community. Most especially Corey loved his family. Corey was an avid supporter of the former president and was so excited to be there last night with him in the community,” Shapiro said. “She [Corey’s wife] also asked that I share with all of you that Corey died a hero. That Corey dove on his family to protect them last night at this rally.”

Shapiro continued to condemn the violence that broke out stating how there can be political disagreements, but “we need to use a peaceful political process to settle those differences.”

“This is a moment where all leaders have a responsibility to speak and act with moral clarity. Where all leaders need to take down the temperature and rise above the hateful rhetoric that exists in search for a better, brighter future for this nation.”

WATCH:

Gunshots broke out at the rally shortly after Trump began to speak around 6 p.m. local time. Video footage captured the loud pop ringing through the crowd before Trump could be seen lifting his hand to his right ear before Secret Service members flooded the stage.

Members within the crowd could be heard screaming right before guards prepared to take the former president off the stage, with some yelling out “shots” were fired. Shortly after the incident, an emergency doctor who was in the crowd at the time, told CBS News that he had rushed to help the victim suffering.

“The guy had spun around, was jammed between the benches, he had a head shot … there was lots of blood and he had brain matter there,” the doctor said, adding that he did chest compressions and performed CPR.

In addition to Comperatore, two other crowd members were critically injured, however, it is unclear what their conditions are.

 

 

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International

History in the making? Trump, Zelensky hold meeting about Ukraine war in Vatican ahead of Francis’ funeral

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From LifeSiteNews

By Stephen Kokx

Trump and Zelenksy held an impromptu 15-minute meeting inside the Vatican just moments before Francis’ funeral. The Ukrainian leader later said a ‘ceasefire’ was discussed.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met inside St. Peter’s Basilica today moments before the start of Pope Francis’ funeral.  

 

Trump and Zelensky were in Rome along with over 160 dignitaries, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Javier Milei of Argentina, and Prince William of the United Kingdom. The ceremony was presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals. 

Trump and Zelenksy held an impromptu 15-minute meeting inside the Vatican while seated in two chairs. Zelenksy later said on X that their conversation involved discussing a “full and unconditional ceasefire” and forging a “reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out.” 

Photographs circulating on social media showed British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron also joined in on the conversation. They held private meetings with Zelensky as well. 

Trump’s social media team shared photos and videos of the president and his wife Melania. In one of them, Trump is seen meeting with New York Cardinal Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who is a longtime friend.  

Leaders from various non-Catholic religions attended the funeral as well, including Buddhists, Sikhs, Hindus, Zoroastrians, though no Muslim or Jewish leaders were officially present per Vatican reporter Michael Haynes. Israel’s Foreign Ministry X account deleted several controversial posts it had initially issued after Francis’ death. Francis had been especially critical of the country’s war in Gaza, hinting on multiple occasions that it may constitute genocide. 

After landing in Rome for the funeral Friday, Trump posted on Truth Social that he had “a good day in talks and meetings with Russia and Ukraine.” He urged both countries to “meet, at very high levels, to ‘finish it off.’” 

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2025 Federal Election

Ottawa Confirms China interfering with 2025 federal election: Beijing Seeks to Block Joe Tay’s Election

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Sam Cooper's avatar Sam Cooper

The announcement marks the first time SITE has publicly confirmed that China is directly seeking to block the election of a particular candidate during the 2025 federal election—an election already shadowed by growing concern over Chinese interference through cyber operations and diaspora political networks.

One week before Canadians head to the polls, Ottawa has confirmed an escalation in China’s election interference efforts, identifying Conservative candidate Joseph Tay as the target of a widespread and highly coordinated ongoing transnational repression campaign tied to the People’s Republic of China.

The SITE Task Force—Canada’s agency monitoring information threats during the election—formally disclosed today that Tay, the Conservative Party candidate for Don Valley North, is the victim of inauthentic online amplification, digital suppression, and reputational targeting orchestrated by networks aligned with Beijing’s foreign influence operations.

The announcement marks the first time SITE has publicly confirmed that China is directly seeking to block the election of a particular candidate during the 2025 federal election—an election already shadowed by growing concern over Chinese interference through cyber operations and diaspora political networks.

“This is not about a single post going viral,” SITE warned. “It is a series of deliberate and persistent activity across multiple platforms—a coordinated attempt to distort visibility, suppress legitimate discourse, and shape the information environment for Chinese-speaking voters in Canada.”

SITE said the most recent coordinated activity occurred in late March, when a Facebook post appeared denigrating Tay’s candidacy. “Posts like this one appeared en masse on March 24 and 25 and appear to be timed for the Conservative Party’s announcement that Tay would run in Don Valley North,” SITE stated in briefing materials.

One post, circulated widely in Chinese-language spaces, featured an image that read: “Wanted for national security reasons, Joe Tay looks to run for a seat in the Canadian Parliament; a successful bid would be a disaster. Is Canada about to become a fugitive’s paradise?”

Significantly, according to The Bureau’s analysis, the post’s message resembles earlier remarks made by then-Liberal MP Paul Chiang to a small group of Chinese journalists in Toronto in January—comments made shortly after Tay’s inclusion on a Hong Kong bounty list was first publicized.

Chiang reportedly told the journalists that Tay’s election would raise significant concern due to the bounty he faced, before suggesting that Tay could be turned over to the Chinese consulate in Toronto.

Tay, a Hong Kong-born human rights advocate, was named in December 2024 by Hong Kong authorities as one of six overseas dissidents subject to an international arrest warrant and monetary bounty. His photograph appeared on a wanted list offering cash rewards for information leading to his capture—an unprecedented move that Canadian officials condemned as a threat to national sovereignty.

“The decision by Hong Kong to issue international bounties and cancel the passports of democracy activists and former Hong Kong lawmakers is deplorable,” SITE stated today. “This attempt by Hong Kong authorities to conduct transnational repression abroad—including by issuing threats, intimidation or coercion against Canadians or those in Canada—will not be tolerated.”

However, while facing an international wave of criticism, Prime Minister Mark Carney did tolerate his candidate’s alleged role in this activity. When asked earlier in the campaign whether he stood by Chiang, Carney said the Liberal MP retained his confidence. Chiang ultimately stepped down only after the RCMP confirmed it was reviewing the matter.

Chiang, who had been endorsed by Prime Minister Carney, was replaced as the Liberal candidate by Peter Yuen, the former Deputy Chief of the Toronto Police Service.

As The Bureau previously reported, Yuen traveled to Beijing in 2015 with a delegation of Ontario Chinese community leaders and politicians to attend a major military parade hosted by President Xi Jinping and the People’s Liberation Army—an event commemorating the Chinese Communist Party’s Second World War victory over Japan.

Yuen’s presence at that event—and his subsequent appearances at diaspora galas alongside leaders from the Confederation of Toronto Chinese Canadian Organizations (CTCCO), a group cited in national security reporting—has drawn media scrutiny.

Both Chiang and Yuen have stated that they strongly support Canada’s rule of law and deny any involvement in inappropriate activities.

According to SITE’s findings, Tay’s campaign has been the focus of two parallel strands of foreign influence since the beginning of the writ period. The first involves inauthentic and coordinated amplification of content related to Tay’s Hong Kong arrest warrant, including repeated efforts to cast doubt on his fitness for office. This activity has spanned multiple platforms commonly used by Chinese-speaking Canadians, including WeChat, Facebook, TikTok, RedNote, and Douyin.

The second strand is a deliberate suppression of Tay’s name in both simplified and traditional Chinese on platforms based in the People’s Republic of China. When users attempt to search for Tay, the platforms return only information related to the Hong Kong bounty—effectively erasing his campaign content and political biography from the digital public square.

While SITE noted that engagement levels with the disinformation remained limited, the timing, repetition, and cross-platform consistency led the Task Force to conclude this is a serious case of foreign interference.

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