James Copenhaver, who was “wounded while protecting his family” during the Butler, Pennsylvania assassination attempt on Donald Trump, has died, according to the president.
Copenhaver died on Wednesday “surrounded by his loved ones,” his family said in a statement to Fox News. “James was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather … His family was the center of his world, and he was the center of theirs.”
According to his family, James was “gravely wounded” at the Butler rally, and CBS News reported that one bullet hit Copenhaver “in the triceps and another was lodged in his body after it took chunks of his colon, leaving him with nerve damage.” In a 2025 interview, Copenhaver said he stood up to look at the giant screen as Trump was speaking.
“Next thing I know, my sleeve has been yanked,” Copenhaver said “I could see a portion of it going by pretty fast, and I heard ‘pew.’ I heard it, and I didn’t realize at the time that I had gotten shot.”
Copenhaver then said he was shot again but that the bullets “went into soft material.”
“It was like a jolt. It didn’t knock me over, but I didn’t want to stand anymore.”
In a statement on Truth Social, Trump remembered Copenhaver, a veteran, as a “wonderful Patriot.”
“More than two years ago in Butler, Pennsylvania, a crazed gunman attempted to stifle our America First Movement. Instead, Jim and so many other wonderful Patriots who love our Country, stood united in defense of our shared values of Freedom, Liberty, and Justice. After being wounded while protecting his family, Jim showed tremendous bravery, courageously continuing to FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT, and maintaining a positive spirit despite unimaginable hardship. His indelible legacy of love and devotion will forever endure,” Trump posted.
The assassination attempt against Trump also claimed the life of Corey Comperatore, a firefighter who was murdered while trying to protect his family from the onslaught of bullets. David Dutch was shot and wounded during the attempt as well but thankfully survived.
Despite the death and severe injuries as a result of the Butler attempt, roughly one third of Democrats would have a positive reaction to Trump being assassinated at a rally, according to a new poll conducted by the Center for Strategic Politics, which found “Democrats want Trump out by (almost) any means necessary.”
Twenty-three percent of respondents said they would feel “very positive” if they saw a headline reading “President Donald Trump was assassinated while speaking at a rally.” Eight percent said they’d feel “somewhat positive” if they saw the news, while 25 percent said they had neither a positive nor negative reaction. Just 43 percent of respondents said they’d feel some degree of negativity if they saw the same news.
Perhaps then it’s unsurprising that Trump has been the victim of continued assassination attempts and Americans are becoming seemingly desensitized to the political violence writ large.
Just recently leftist streamer Hasan Piker mocked Charlie Kirk’s assassination. As I previously wrote, laughing at Kirk’s murder — or any political violence — reinforces the idea that murdering a conservative is a joke and not important. This type of behavior is best described as assassination prep, which seeks to desensitize Americans to political violence so that they no longer care when it happens. The desensitization campaign has worked so well that Democrats have become emboldened to openly call for killing hte president — or defending those who have called for political violence. Take for example Democrat Elliot Forhan, who sought the party’s primary nomination for Ohio attorney general and who actively campaigned on literally killing Trump. Such campaign promise is only permissible when a culture rewards such behavior and rhetoric. Meanwhile Jay Jones was elected as Virginia’s attorney general last November even after it was revealed that he fantasized about murdering his Republican colleagues and their children.
