Supporters who were at the July 13 rally in Pennsylvania when former President Donald Trump was shot, returned to finish the rally on Saturday with mixed emotions.
For Inga from Northern Butler County who was there that day, it was more than just another political rally.
She was in the bleachers on July 13 and vividly recalls the details of that day.
‘The gentleman on my right and the gentleman on my left were both shot,’ she recalled.
They did not know each other but as they waited for the rally to begin, they struck up a conversations.
‘We visited, the whole time, we didn’t know each other,’ she said.
Although she did not know their names at the time, the shooting victims were identified as 57-year-old David Dutch, of New Kensington, PA and 74-year-old James Copenhaver, of Moon Township, PA.
‘They were both veterans,” she recalled. ‘They lived through wars, they served their country, they risked their lives for us to have freedom to do things like this, and they come here to enjoy a patriotic day and this was what happened, it shouldn’t have happened,’ she said.
After the shooting she had a ringing in her ear for days, and could not understand why. She said her husband, a military veteran explained that a bullet passing by her head can have a concussive effect.
Her life changed that day, knowing that she was spared the bullets that day that hit the people next to her.
When she heard Trump was coming back to Butler, Inga had no doubt in her mind that she would return to finish the rally.
She arrived early Saturday morning and headed to the same location in Butler and stood in line with fellow Trump supporters.
‘I love it, I think it’s great, it’s a safe feeling,” she said. ‘This is huge, trying to rally around, this town is huge in Christian values and we need to take that back,’
The experience, she said, also steeled in her a resolve of the importance of the upcoming election. She was at a rally for Trump, but explained that the stakes were beyond the former president as a candidate.
‘It’s not just for him in general, it’s good versus evil, it’s primarily that,’ she said. ‘It’s not party vs party it’s good vs evil. And President Trump, he’s a man, he’s not perfect none of us are. He has morals that this country needs. We want it back and the only way to do that is fight.’
Michael from Natrona Heights, Pennsylvania brought his son Parker to a Trump rally that day in July.
‘I brought him to see a president and be a part of history,’ he said. ‘I didn’t think we were going to be that part of history.’
A former serviceman in the military, he recalled first hearing gunshots at the rally in July.
’After the first two pops I knew what they were, I grabbed my son and yelled ‘Get the f down, that’s the military instinct in me,’ he said.
Michael admitted that if they hadn’t stopped for chili-cheese fries that day in July, they probably would have been in the bleachers where people were hit by the bullets.
They left that day feeling that something was unfinished and also the country had changed.
Michael said he was disappointed after that day to hear people who hated Trump express their regret that the shooter missed.
‘People wanted this to happen I don’t understand why they feel that way,’ he said.
But when Trump announced he was returning to finish, his son Parker was determined to come back.
‘He bugged me until I got online and registered,’ Michael said. ‘No hesitation.’
So when they arrived back at the Butler farm show grounds they both and got in line for some food.
When asked what he was going to order, Parker grinned and replied, ‘Chili-cheese fries.’
Scott and Cathy from Evansburg, Pennsylvania were just 12 rows back from the stage when they arrived to the Butler rally in July.
From the moment they arrived they commented on the lack of security, it was easy to enter the location, and the alleyways were filled and jammed with people who were not ordered to clear out.
‘It was nuts,’ Scott said. ‘I said, “Something’s not right here.”‘
Cathy was filming Trump with her phone when shots rang out, prompting Scott to grab his wife and throw her to the ground to protect her.
‘When people heard that the shooter was down, everybody stood back up, nobody wanted to leave,’ she said.
Everyone around them wanted to see whether Trump was still alive, as they saw blood running down his face.
People stood around for a while after Trump was evacuated, unclear whether the former president was alive or dead. They eventually filed away quietly wondering what would happen to the country.
‘I knew right then and there, if he was going to pass away, life as we knew it was over,’ Scott recalled thinking. ‘It was never coming back.’
When they heard Trump was going to return, they had no doubt in their minds they would return to the rally.
‘Oh we’re here, we knew were were coming,’ they said. ‘We weren’t going to miss it for nothing.’
Returning to the rally only added to their resolve in the upcoming election, but also they felt uneasy about President Joe Biden’s response to the Hurricane in North Carolina.
‘It’s always been about “We the People” and our country and taking it back but right now, after the hurricane that came through and you got those poor people in North Carolina Tennessee and Georgia,’ Scott said. ‘It’s about life and death. We’re not doing anything for them. It’s about them right now.’
He argued that Trump was not perfect, but that he was serious about fixing the problems in the country.
‘We all have skeletons in our closet or whatever, but if he has the best interest in the country, he gives us a good living a safe nation to live in I’m happy.’
David and Donna from West Virginia recalled hearing noise of the shots and first thinking it was fireworks before they hit the ground to protect themselves from what they gunshots.
Donna recalled hearing ‘bloodcurdling screams,’ and thinking Trump was dead. She also recalled a small boy behind her crying.
Different scenarios went through their minds, thinking there could still be an active shooter, or a pair of shooters.
‘I was thinking, “I’m going to die here,”‘ Donna recalled.
They learned from other rally attendees that Trump was still alive but that there was blood on his face.
But when they heard Trump was returning, there was no doubt in their minds that they would return.
‘Now we’re back and it’s unfinished business,’ David said.
But coming back to the rally site felt surreal to them both.
‘When I first pulled in, I said “I can’t believe we’re back here again, it was kind of spooky,”‘ Donna said.
Jan from Pennsylvania was about 30 feet from Corey Comperatore that day, sitting in the VIP section the day of the shooting.
Like others, she first thought the gunfire was firecrackers until she hit the ground and heard people screaming.
She recalled hearing a ‘low rumble’ in the crowd after the shooting as word spread that Trump was still alive but that she still was not absolutely sure.
‘It took me a week to process what I saw,’ she recalled, noting that bodies were still being taken out,
When she heard Trump was coming back, she admitted thinking about it for a while but realized she could not miss it.
‘We’re passionate, you come back and your head goes back to where you were and you know the risk he is taking to do what he is doing right now is intense, your thoughts to go to safety and to him,’ she said.
Returning to the site, she said, brought mixed feelings but determination.
‘I flash back to that moment, anticipation, excitement, no fear, no fear, no fear,’ she said. ‘Prayers. Constant prayer. There’s prayers that are flying everywhere. In my heart right now. God’s got it all in His hands.’