Trump Rally Shooting Survivor James Copenhaver Dies at 76

James "Jim" Copenhaver, one of three spectators shot during the July 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, died Wednesday at a Pittsburgh hospital, more than two years after the attack. He was 76. Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday confirmed that Copenhaver "died from complications stemming from those wounds," calling him a man who "endured unimaginable hardship with strength and perseverance" and extending condolences to his wife, Marianne, according to CBS Pittsburgh. Copenhaver's family, through a lawyer, described him as a devoted husband, father and grandfather, a military veteran who died surrounded by loved ones.

Copenhaver was standing in the bleachers at the Butler Farm Show grounds on July 13, 2024, when 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from a nearby rooftop, grazing Trump's ear, killing rallygoer and former Buffalo Township fire chief Corey Comperatore, and wounding Copenhaver and fellow attendee David Dutch. One bullet struck Copenhaver's triceps; another lodged in his abdomen after tearing through his colon, causing nerve damage that left him walking with a cane for the rest of his life. In June, Copenhaver and Marianne sued the federal government, alleging the Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security showed "100% negligence" and "utterly failed" to secure the rally grounds. That suit remains pending in federal court in Pennsylvania.

The shooting prompted two lengthy congressional inquiries. A Senate Judiciary Committee report led by Chairman Chuck Grassley concluded the Secret Service's failure to share threat information allowed a preventable tragedy, while a separate Homeland Security Committee investigation chaired by Senator Rand Paul described "a cascade of preventable failures," including denied requests for additional agents, poorly defined responsibilities and a breakdown in coordination with local police. Then-acting Secret Service Director Ronnie Rowe testified before the committee about the agency's response, in testimony that became part of the permanent record on the shooting. Investigators ultimately concluded that Crooks, who was killed at the scene by a Secret Service counter-sniper, acted alone and had climbed onto the roof of a building with a clear sightline to the stage that agents had discussed but did not secure.

Copenhaver spent roughly a week in the hospital after the shooting before being discharged, and in interviews afterward described the moment the first shots rang out: he recalled looking up at the Jumbotron behind the stage when he felt his sleeve "yanked," not immediately realizing he had been hit. He went on to walk with a cane for the remainder of his life and required ongoing treatment for the nerve damage caused by the bullet that struck his abdomen. Comperatore, the volunteer fire chief killed in the same attack, was posthumously credited with shielding his wife and daughters from gunfire. Dutch, the third victim, survived his wounds and, like Copenhaver, joined the lawsuit against the federal government.

Trump, in a statement following news of Copenhaver's death, praised his "tremendous bravery" and "positive spirit" in the years since the shooting, according to reporting on the statement. Copenhaver's death renews attention on the still-pending litigation over the Secret Service's conduct that day, as reported by NPR, and on an agency that both congressional panels found had repeatedly denied requests for additional protective resources at Trump campaign events in the run-up to the shooting.