James Copenhaver, the military veteran shot twice during the July 2024 assassination attempt on President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, has died after two years of surgeries and permanent injuries, making him the second life claimed by that day's security failures.
Copenhaver's family confirmed Thursday afternoon that the Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, resident passed away on September 23, 2026, surrounded by loved ones. He was in his mid-70s. For more than two years, bullet fragments remained lodged in his body, and he endured multiple surgeries that never fully restored him to the man he was before a gunman opened fire at a campaign rally on a summer Saturday in western Pennsylvania.
Fox News Digital reported that journalist Ken Silva, who wrote a book about the assassination attempt, first disclosed that a person close to the Copenhaver family confirmed the death and the extent of his lasting injuries. The family's own statement followed shortly after.
On July 13, 2024, Thomas Matthew Crooks scaled the roof of a glass manufacturing building near the Butler Farm Show complex and fired on President Trump and the crowd gathered behind him. Corey Comperatore, a Butler County firefighter, was killed in the bleachers. David Dutch was wounded but survived. Copenhaver took two rounds.
In a 2025 interview with Pittsburgh's KDKA, Copenhaver recalled the moment he was hit.
"Next thing I know, my sleeve has been yanked. 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."
He described the impact as "a jolt", one that didn't knock him down but made him not want to stand anymore. The bullets, he said, went "into soft material." Two years later, fragments of those rounds were still inside him.
Earlier this year, Copenhaver filed a lawsuit against the United States, alleging the multiple surgeries he was forced to undergo were a direct consequence of the government's failure to protect him. The New York Post confirmed that Copenhaver suffered permanent injuries and never regained full health. The status of that lawsuit following his death remains unclear.
Political violence against public officials and those near them has become a recurring feature of American life in recent years, from the killing of a Minnesota state lawmaker to threats that have forced extraordinary security measures around sitting presidents and political figures alike.
A bipartisan House task force concluded that the Butler attack was preventable. Investigators identified breakdowns in planning, communication, and execution, the kind of institutional failures that cost Comperatore his life and left Copenhaver with injuries he carried to his grave.
Then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned less than two weeks after the shooting, taking responsibility for the security lapse. She had previously cited the roof's slope as an explanation for why it was not secured, a claim that drew immediate skepticism.
Rep. Carlos Gimenez, a Florida Republican and member of the House task force, personally climbed onto the roof Crooks had used to take aim at Trump. He told Fox News Digital he was incredulous at how easy it was to scale. Six Secret Service agents were later suspended without pay in connection with the failures that day.
The security environment around Trump has remained a persistent concern. Threats from foreign adversaries have at times forced dramatic protective measures, underscoring the real-world stakes of getting presidential security right.
President Trump posted a tribute to Copenhaver on Truth Social Thursday, calling him a "true American Patriot" and describing his death as a "tremendous loss."
"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 hardships."
Trump added: "His indelible legacy of love and devotion will forever endure. Our hearts and prayers are with the Copenhaver family, especially his incredible wife Marianne."
Trump had returned to Butler in October 2024, less than three months after the assassination attempt, to hold another rally at the same site and honor Comperatore. He went on to win the presidency and become the first commander-in-chief since Grover Cleveland to serve two nonconsecutive terms.
The broader story of that day's toll, one man killed, two gravely wounded, a president's ear grazed by a bullet, has remained a defining episode of this political era.
Mayor Jondavid Longo of Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, a nearby community whose leader had spoken at the Butler rally, posted his own tribute on X.
"He survived that day, but he never fully recovered from the wounds. For two years he lived with surgeries, remaining fragments, and pain that never left him. Those of us who were there that day have never forgotten Corey Comperatore, David Dutch, or Jim."
Longo said Butler County "still carries that afternoon" and asked for prayers for Marianne and the Copenhaver family.
The House Republican Conference posted an obituary on social media, writing: "Jim endured unimaginable hardship with strength and perseverance. We join his family and loved ones in mourning his loss and praying for them during this difficult time. May he rest in peace."
Copenhaver's family described him as a devoted husband, father, and grandfather, a veteran who "proudly served our nation in the armed forces" and whose "love of country never wavered." They called him "a true American patriot who believed deeply in the freedoms and ideals upon which this nation was founded."
Threats and acts of violence against political figures and those in their orbit have become disturbingly common, a pattern that extends to lawsuits over security failures at events where public figures were targeted.
The family statement said Copenhaver "faced every challenge with the same strength and resolve that defined his life" and expressed gratitude for the outpouring of support over the past two years. They asked that their privacy be honored as they mourn.
What the family did not say, and what no official source has yet clarified, is whether Copenhaver's death has been formally classified as resulting from injuries sustained in the shooting. The specific cause of death was not disclosed. Nor is it clear what becomes of his pending lawsuit against the United States.
Those open questions matter. If Copenhaver's death is ultimately tied to the wounds he suffered at Butler, the human cost of the Secret Service's failures that day rises from one life lost to two, a toll that no resignation, suspension, or task force report can undo.
James Copenhaver went to a rally to support a candidate he believed in. He came home with bullets in his body that never came out. The people responsible for making sure that rooftop was secure owe him more than a task force finding and a handful of suspensions. They owe him an answer for why a preventable attack was not prevented.
