They took a bullet for Trump to create a legendary photo

Editor note: David Thornton is on vacation, which I plan not to disturb. —SB

President Joe Biden mentioned Corey Comperatore twice—once by name—in his two televised remarks to the nation regarding the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

We also extend our deepest condolences to the family of the victim who was killed.  Corey was a husband, a father, a volunteer firefighter, a hero, sheltering his family from those bullets.  We should all hold his family and all those injured in our prayers.

It is easy and convenient to flatten the image of people who were on the rally stage behind Trump. Victims. First Amendment partakers who merely displayed preference and enthusiasm for a candidate. Tragic figures. I’m sure that Mr. Comperatore was not thinking he’d give up his life on Saturday.

There will be a myth built around the man, but more likely, he will be relegated to some corners of the Internet, or brought up in archived paragraphs like other victims of political violence who simply happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. While I pray for his family, who are devastated, I also understand that they’d rather have Corey back than any fame or mythical status he may gain in his pointless death.

I also—forgive me—question some of the myth. The shots were fired at quick intervals, and if Mr. Comperatore was hit by the first shot, he would not have covered his family. Accounts from the scene included some witnesses who said the victim was fatally shot in the head. If this is true, it’s more likely he fell on his family. But the myth will persist, and let them have it, if it brings any comfort. A GoFundMe for Allyson Comperatore has raised $843,647, with over 15,000 donations so far, and it’s less than 48 hours after the shooting.

The other two victims, who were critically wounded but alive, are David Dutch, a 57-year-old from New Kensington, Pennsylvania, and James Copenhaver, 74, from Moon Township. Both are reported to be in stable condition. But being shot with an AR-15 5.56 NATO round is huge trauma to the body. Being “stable” doesn’t mean they are out of the woods by any means, though I have no idea of the nature of their wounds.

I do know that none of these three victims was grazed in the ear. The victim who was grazed in the ear, released from the hospital, and is now in Milwaukee to attend his nomination as the Republican candidate for president is the bullets’ intended target.

Donald Trump was shot, and if the bullet that grazed his ear was only a millimeter or two tighter to his skull, he’d be very dead. One of the bullets that hit the other victims carried Trump’s blood.

Sohrab Ahmari, a Trump-supporting academic and author, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “I’ll be honest: If a bullet grazed my ear, I would not have it in me to get up, pump my first, and urge my supporters to ‘fight!’”

“That’s evidence of a truly extraordinary man. World-historical in the way Napoleon was for the 19th century.”

I see it a bit differently. Trump must have devoted great thought to the possibility (probability) someone would take a shot at him. His reaction shows that his fear of his own death has been dealt with, and he turned it to burning desire.

A flesh wound to the ear in Vietnam would be called a “million dollar wound.” In Iraq or Afghanistan, it would get a soldier a Purple Heart, but not a trip home. In Washington, D.C., that kind of wound, for a police officer, might warrant a few days off and return to duty, along with a new nickname of “van Gogh.”

Trump’s flesh wound, thanks to a truly brave AP photographer, Evan Vucci, winner of a 2021 Pulitzer Prize, yielded what’s been called a “legendary” photograph. I can’t publish it here because as a small newsletter we don’t have an AP license. But The Atlantic (behind paywall) published a full piece about the photo.

As the Secret Service agents lay on top of Trump, since it’s their job to take a bullet for him, I can only imagine how their protectee was straining to get up, to get the iconic image of a fist in the air, shouting “fight!” to his fans, blood streaking down his face. Trump’s reaction to nearly being killed was anger and ambition.

I believe that, given the political climate, it was not a surprise for Trump that someone tried to assassinate him. The very rally site chosen by his campaign seemed to allow for that: small, open fields surrounded by commercial buildings. For law enforcement, such places are hard to protect, and given that the shooter came out of nowhere—though we don’t know if he was on anyone’s radar—protecting against a wildcard like that is always a risk.

I’m not buying the conspiracies being birthed by some on the left (“Blueanon” is a thing) that Trump engineered his own flesh wound. But I do believe that he long ago reached a kind of peace about the possibility of being shot at, or even hit. The reality of it yielded the best possible outcome for Trump: a million dollar wound and an iconic image that no amount of campaigning could ever create.

Just like January 6th will be etched into our national memory, July 13th will have its own place (much smaller) in our political history. On J6, Ashli Babbitt was killed by a Capitol Police officer, taking a bullet for her enthusiasm to support then-President Trump. Three others also died, for other reasons: Kevin D. Greeson, Rosanne Boyland, and Benjamin Philips. Babbitt was really the only death I’d directly connect to Trump’s action/inaction in office.

July 13th brings the number of people who have taken a bullet for Trump to four. At the convention in Milwaukee, I’m sure there will be plenty of sympathy for Trump, as a martyr who took a bullet for his campaign, after suffering 34 felony convictions, and facing several more.

But really, there should be 40-foot banners with the names and faces of the four people who took bullets for Trump, and suffered more than a flesh wound. Two of them paid the ultimate price for their support.

I hope Republicans honor them in more than just passing. I hope that President Biden’s mention of Corey Comperatore isn’t the last we hear of him. I hope that the man those bullets were intended for turns his conscience—and his millions—to them.

Trump got his reward in the photo. He may yet ascend to the presidency again. I hope more people will not suffer for his unbridled ambition.

Image: Screen capture X/Twitter, @sureshkjaat, video clip via Washington Post.

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