Mourners gathered at a Pennsylvania church Friday for the funeral of the volunteer fire chief killed at Donald Trump’s rally last weekend – as the deceased’s casket was carried from the venue draped in a US flag.
The casket of Corey Comperatore, 50, was carried by eight firefighters out of Cabot United Methodist Church as the deceased’s widow and other mourner’s looked on.
The husband and father of two was killed while trying to shield his family when a gunman opened fire from a factory rooftop during Trump’s rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds Saturday evening.
Corey Comperatore, 50, was a volunteer fire chief. AP
Corey Comperatore was killed by a stray bullet in the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. REUTERS
Comperatore was shot as he was trying to shield his family from the bullets. APHis widow, Helen Comperatore, recalled her husband’s final warning to “Get down!” as the shooter rained bullets into the crowd.
“He’s my hero,” Helen told The Post on Monday. “He just said, ‘Get down!’ That was the last thing he said.”
Trump, 78, was grazed by a bullet during the assassination attempt. Two other rally-goers were critically wounded, but are expected to recover.
Trump paid tribute to “our friend Corey” during his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention on Thursday night by bringing his fire helmet and jacket onto the stage.
gUESTS were seen leaving Corey Comperatore’s private funeral.
Firefighters carried Comperatore’s casket out of the church following the funeral.
The former president kissed Comperatore’s helmet as he lamented how “he lost his life selflessly acting as a human shield to protect them from flying bullets.”
Comperatore was honored with a public procession in Freeport on Thursday.
The services will be followed by a procession of up to 500 fire trucks from the church to the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company in Sarver, where Comperatore served for several years, the New York Times reported.
The funeral services will be private, followed by a procession of up to 500 fire trucks from the church to the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company in Sarver, Pa.
Corey Comperatore’s life was honored by a procession of fire trucks. APNew York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Friday that she would order state flags lowered to half-staff in Comperatore’s honor “the day of the funeral” – though she appeared confused about the fact that the funeral was taking place that morning.
“We’re looking at that for the day of the funeral. When’s the funeral? We gotta find out when the funeral is,” Hochul said at the morning presser, according to POLITICO’s Jason Beeferman.
A short time later, the governor’s office issued a formal announcement ordering the flags to be lowered – after the funeral itself was well underway.
“Corey Comperatore was a father, a public servant, and a proud American whose life was taken in a senseless act of violence that shakes at the core of our democracy,” Hochul wrote. “As we honor his memory, let us commit once more to the better angels of our nature, and to the collective freedoms we enjoy as a nation.”
