{"id":2669903,"date":"2026-09-25T12:13:34","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T16:13:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignanother-victim-of-butler-assassination-attempt-dies-as-democrats-amp-up-violent-rhetoric\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T12:16:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T16:16:32","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignanother-victim-of-butler-assassination-attempt-dies-as-democrats-amp-up-violent-rhetoric","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignanother-victim-of-butler-assassination-attempt-dies-as-democrats-amp-up-violent-rhetoric\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Victim Of Butler Assassination Attempt Dies"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignanother-victim-of-butler-assassination-attempt-dies-as-democrats-amp-up-violent-rhetoric%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2669903&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>James Copenhaver, a veteran who was wounded while protecting his family during an assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, has died at the age of 35. He was gravely wounded when bullets struck him, one hitting his triceps and another lodged in his body after damaging his colon, resulting in nerve damage. Copenhaver recounted that he was unaware he had been shot until after the incident. President Trump, in a statement, praised Copenhaver for his bravery and patriotism, highlighting his efforts to defend American values despite severe injuries. The attack also claimed the life of firefighter Corey Comperatore, while another victim, David Dutch, was wounded but survived. Despite such violence, polls indicate that a meaningful portion of Democrats would have a positive reaction to Trump being assassinated, reflecting a concerning level of desensitization to political violence in the country. The article discusses ongoing threats and rhetoric that normalize or encourage political violence, including recent examples of figures openly advocating for harm against political opponents.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LC82f4fyzz8>CBS Pittsburgh \/Youtube <\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/09\/25\/another-victim-of-butler-assassination-attempt-dies-as-democrats-amp-up-violent-rhetoric\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Another Victim Of Butler Assassination Attempt Dies As Democrats Amp Up Violent Rhetoric&#038;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/09\/25\/another-victim-of-butler-assassination-attempt-dies-as-democrats-amp-up-violent-rhetoric\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=Another Victim Of Butler Assassination Attempt Dies As Democrats Amp Up Violent Rhetoric&#038;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/09\/25\/another-victim-of-butler-assassination-attempt-dies-as-democrats-amp-up-violent-rhetoric\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/09\/25\/another-victim-of-butler-assassination-attempt-dies-as-democrats-amp-up-violent-rhetoric\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=Another Victim Of Butler Assassination Attempt Dies As Democrats Amp Up Violent Rhetoric&#038;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/09\/25\/another-victim-of-butler-assassination-attempt-dies-as-democrats-amp-up-violent-rhetoric\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\">                     <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); pfTrackEvent(&#039;Another Victim Of Butler Assassination Attempt Dies As Democrats Amp Up Violent Rhetoric&#039;); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &#038; Email\">                     <span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span>                     <\/a>                 <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<div class=\"pf-content\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">James Copenhaver, who was \u201cwounded while protecting his family\u201d during the Butler, Pennsylvania assassination attempt on Donald Trump, has died, according to the president.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Copenhaver died on Wednesday \u201csurrounded by his loved ones,\u201d his family said in a statement to Fox News. \u201cJames was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather \u2026 His family was the center of his world, and he was the center of theirs.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-3507630988\" class=\"d-flex justify-content-center fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 fdrlst__b89e9-entity-placement\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to his family, James was \u201cgravely wounded\u201d at the Butler rally, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/pittsburgh\/news\/jim-copenhaver-trump-rally-assassination-attempt-victim-dies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CBS News<\/a> reported that one bullet hit Copenhaver \u201cin the triceps and another was lodged in his body after it took chunks of his colon, leaving him with nerve damage.\u201d In a 2025 interview, Copenhaver said he stood up to look at the giant screen as Trump was speaking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNext thing I know, my sleeve has been yanked,\u201d Copenhaver said \u201cI could see a portion of it going by pretty fast, and I heard \u2018pew.\u2019 I heard it, and I didn\u2019t realize at the time that I had gotten shot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Copenhaver then said he was shot again but that the bullets \u201cwent into soft material.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt was like a jolt. It didn\u2019t knock me over, but I didn\u2019t want to stand anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/117328536706468024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">statement<\/a> on Truth Social, Trump remembered Copenhaver, a veteran, as a \u201cwonderful Patriot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMore 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,\u201d Trump posted. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite the death and severe injuries as a result of the Butler attempt, roughly one third of Democrats <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/09\/22\/poll-1-in-3-democrats-would-be-happy-to-see-trump-assassinated\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">would have<\/a> a positive reaction to Trump being assassinated at a rally, according to a new <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/09\/22\/poll-death-wish-dems-want-trump-dead-or-taken-out-by-military-coup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">poll<\/a> conducted by the Center for Strategic Politics, which found \u201cDemocrats want Trump out by (almost) any means necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Twenty-three percent of respondents said they would feel \u201cvery positive\u201d if they saw a headline reading \u201cPresident Donald Trump was assassinated while speaking at a rally.\u201d Eight percent said they\u2019d feel \u201csomewhat positive\u201d if they saw the news, while 25 percent said they had neither a positive nor negative reaction. Just 43 percent of respondents said they\u2019d feel some degree of negativity if they saw the same news.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Perhaps then it\u2019s unsurprising that Trump has been the victim of continued assassination attempts and Americans are becoming seemingly desensitized to the political violence writ large. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just recently leftist streamer Hasan Piker mocked Charlie Kirk\u2019s assassination. As I previously <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/08\/26\/hasan-pikers-mocking-of-charlie-kirk-is-part-of-the-lefts-assassination-prep-campaign\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a>, laughing at Kirk\u2019s murder \u2014 or any political violence \u2014 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 \u2014 or defending those who have called for political violence. Take for <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/01\/28\/democrats-are-literally-promising-to-kill-trump-if-they-get-power\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">example<\/a> Democrat Elliot Forhan, who sought the party\u2019s 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\u2019s attorney general last November even <em>after<\/em> it was revealed that he fantasized about murdering his Republican colleagues and their children.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Brianna Lyman<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/briannalyman2\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@briannalyman2<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/briannalyman\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags no-print bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/assassination\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">assassination<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/assassination-attempt\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">assassination attempt<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/butler\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Butler<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/butler-pennsylvania\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Butler Pennsylvania<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/corey-comperatore\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Corey Comperatore<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Donald Trump<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/political-violence\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">political violence<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>James Copenhaver, wounded protecting Trump, has died<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2669904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-25-at-10.08.37-AM-scaled-e1790345416232-1024x577.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[6286,14071,50403,5031],"class_list":["post-2669903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-assassination","tag-butler","tag-crime-2","tag-victim"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-25-at-10.08.37-AM-scaled-e1790345416232-1024x577.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2669903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2669903"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2669903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2669913,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2669903\/revisions\/2669913"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2669904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2669903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2669903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2669903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}