Family of firefighter Corey Comperatore killed at Trump rally speak out as it's revealed shooter Thomas Crooks' body is 'gone'
The family of the firefighter who was killed during the attempted assassination of Donald Trump has spoken out, shortly after his killer's body was revealed to have 'gone' after being quietly cremated 10 days after the attack.
A month after Corey Comperatore lost his life at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, his widow Helen and two daughters Allyson and Kaylee said they don't him to just be remembered as 'the man shot at a rally.'
'He was just a wonderful man,' Helen told Action4News. 'Just remember Corey as he was — a great man who was a great father, great husband.'
The grieving family said they believe Corey's 'blood is on the hands' of the law enforcement in charge of the rally, amid growing scrutiny over apparent security lapses that allowed the shooting to unfold.
Their interview comes as Congressman Clay Higgins revealed last night Thomas Matthew Crooks' body was cremated within days of the shooting after being quietly returned to his family.
Higgins accused the FBI of a 'scorched earth' investigation.
Corey's daughters Allyson (left) and Kaylee (right) remembered their father as a doting and loving man, and said they blame law enforcement security lapses for his death
Helen Comperatore, the widow of the fire chief slain during the assassination attempt of Donald Trump, has spoken out her beloved husband a month after he was killed
Corey Comperatore was shot in the head during Trump's fateful rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, as his family said he heroically leapt on top of them when bullets rang out
'On J23, Crooks was gone. Nobody knew this until Monday, August 5, including the County Coroner, law enforcement, Sheriff, etc,' Higgins said in a damning report.
When he was shot dead at the rally, Corey was struck in the head as he dove on top of his wife and daughters at the same moment Secret Service agents raced to cover Trump on stage.
His widow praised him as a 'hero', saying he 'saved his wife, he saved his child and he was just the best guy. He was just the best.'
Allyson said she remembered the exact moment shots rang out at the event, as her father sprang into action and threw her to the floor.
'As he was throwing me down, that is when he was shot and he ended up falling on me,' she told Action4News. 'I don't remember any other shots. In that moment, I was trying to take care of him. I was really confused when he was on me.
'I had turned around, I went, 'Dad' — he fell down, and that's when I started screaming and I was trying to keep him from bleeding.'
His other daughter Kaylee said she is still shocked at witnessing the tragedy, and said she told her self to 'wake up, this is a dream.'
'And then you realize it's not a dream, and you feel like your whole world is just over,' she added.
Helen branded Corey a 'hero' for his final actions, saying he 'saved his wife, he saved his child and he was just the best guy. He was just the best'
Corey and Helen were high school sweethearts who were married for 29 years, sharing two daughters (pictured during their childhoods) that described him as the best 'girl dad'
The grieving family say they have been left searching for answers to the tragedy, and described losing Corey as feeling as though 'your whole world is just over'
The family remembered on Corey as a doting husband and father, as Helen said their romance began as high school sweethearts when they were sophomores.
'It was Valentine's Day, and Corey showed up at my house with a dozen roses,' Helen recalled through tears. 'I said, 'Does this mean we're dating?' And he said, 'Yes, I think so,' and I said, 'OK.''
They were married for 29 years, sharing their two daughters and Corey's beloved Doberman pinschers. Allyson and Kaylee described their father as the perfect 'girl dad.'
'He would put my hair in braids,' Allyson said. 'When I was in competitive cheer, he was the cool dad because he could do back handsprings — little girls begging him to do back handsprings on the tumble track.'
After Trump unbelievably survived the assassination attempt by being shot in the ear, days before the Republican National Convention, Corey's firefighter uniform was displayed on stage as a tribute to the victim of the shooting.
Helen said his uniform being shared and embraced by Trump was a 'big honor.'
'I'll tell you why,' she continued. 'All day at the rally, he kept saying, 'You're going to hear him (say) Corey, get up here.' He was just joking, 'You're going to get up,' and we were all like, there's his moment. He's up on stage. He got his moment on stage.'
Corey was killed days before the Republican National Convention, and his firefighters uniform was displayed on stage with Trump as a tribute to the slain father
Helen said her husband was a keen Trump supporter, and described having his uniform displayed next to the former president at the RNC as a 'big honor'
Now, amid growing scrutiny on the Secret Service's apparent security lapses that allowed Crooks to fire at Trump on stage, Corey's loved ones say they are considering legal action and have hired an attorney to fight for justice.
'I know he would want me to get to the bottom of this. I know he would,' Helen said. 'I want justice for my husband, and I'm going to get it.'
Kaylee added that she blames law enforcement for her father's death, saying: 'I just want them to know I think my dad's blood is on their hands, and I hope they wake up every day thinking about what they took from our family.
'Because we have to wake up every day and see that image of our father in our head, and no child should ever have to see that.'
The scrutiny on the Butler rally was escalated this week as Congressman Higgins, a Louisiana Republican who was appointed to Congress' bipartisan task force reviewing the assassination attempt, revealed the shooter's body was quietly cremated after being release to his family within days of the shooting.
He said he tried to view Crooks' body on August 5 as part of his own personal inspection, which 'caused quite a stir and revealed a disturbing fact'.
It was at this point that he learned that the FBI had 'released the body for cremation 10 days' after the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
Higgins says 'nobody knew' that the body had been returned to the family, including the county coroner and local enforcement. He writes that the coroner still had 'legal authority over the body' when the FBI made this decision and accuses the agency of 'obstruction'.
The congressman's report comes amid grave concerns over how the shooting was allowed to unfold, with Trump barely escaping with his life and a rally attendee being killed in one of the greatest security failings in American history.
The body of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old who attempted to assassinate former President Trump, was returned to his family for cremation only ten days after the shooting
The FBI released the body of Crooks only ten days after his assassination attempt on former President Trump
Secret Service chief Kimberly Cheatle was forced to resign on July 23 - but many questions remain unanswered, with no motive yet provided for 20-year-old Crooks' assassination attempt.
Higgins said that he took it upon himself to investigate during a 'boots on the ground' trip to Butler from August 4 to 6.
His 'preliminary investigate report' was submitted to Task Force Chairman Mike Kelly (R-PA) on August 12 and released to the public on Higgins' website last night.
In it he questions why Crooks' body was released to the family by the FBI without any oversight.
'The problem with me not being able to examine the actual body is that I won't know 100% if the coroner's report and the autopsy report are accurate. We will actually never know,' Higgins writes.
'Yes, we'll get the reports and pictures, but I will not ever be able to say with certainty that those reports and pictures are accurate according to my own examination of the body.
'Again, similar to releasing the crime scene and scrubbing crime scene biological evidence... this action by the FBI can only be described by any reasonable man as an obstruction to any following investigative effort.'
Higgins states that on July 23, the day that Crooks was cremated, both the Homeland Security Committee and the Oversight Committee had opened investigations into the assassination attempt, while Speaker Mike Johnson had stated he was forming a congressional investigative body.
'Why, then, by what measure, would the FBI release his body to the family for cremation? This pattern of investigative scorched earth by the FBI is quite troubling,' Higgins writes.
Representative Clay Higgins, a Republican from Louisiana who was appointed to the bipartisan task force reviewing the assassination attempt, tried to view Crooks' body on August 5 as part of his own personal investigation
By July 23, 'Crooks was gone,' Higgins wrote. 'Nobody knew this until Monday, August 5, including the County Coroner, law enforcement, Sheriff, etc'
Speaking after the publication of his report, Higgins stated that he will leave no stone unturned as he continues to work alongside his colleagues as part of the bipartisan group investigating the shooting.
'As I have said, every question will be answered, every theory explored, and every doubt erased. The American people deserve the full truth on the attempted assassination of President Trump,' he said.
'Our investigative efforts are moving forward in good faith. The release of my preliminary investigative report is reflective of my desire to deliver transparency and reassurance to the American people.'
Prior to being elected to the lower house in 2016, Higgins worked as a police officer in Louisiana.
In November 2023, he suggested that violence at the Capitol on January 6 was caused by operatives who were brought in by the FBI on 'ghost buses.'
Higgins has also attended and spoken at events organized by groups like the Three Percenters and the Oath Keepers.
On July 29, the Louisiana congressman was named as one of seven Republican members of a bipartisan group tasked with investigating the attempted assassination of Trump.
The task force consists of 13 members - seven Republicans and six Democrats. It's mission is to determine what went wrong on the day of the attempted assassination and it will make recommendations to prevent future security lapses.
The task force will issue a final report before December 13.
