“I see it every time I close my eyes,” says the widow of the man killed at the Trump rally.
The wife of a former volunteer fire chief who was killed during the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in July in Butler, Pennsylvania, told the BBC that she was angry about the security failures that led to her husband being killed by a gunman on a roof.
Corey Comperatore was shot dead after dove on his family members to protect them, while 20-year-old Thomas Crooks opened fire on the former president.
His wife, Helen, said she was unable to stop replaying the day’s events in her mind.
“I see it every time I close my eyes, and I probably will for a long time,” she said.
“I’m angry because there were so many mistakes made that day that didn’t have to happen,” she added.
Helen Comperatore spoke exclusively to the BBC a few days before Trump returned to Butler and the site of the shooting.
The home she shared with Corey in Sarver is less than 20 miles (32 km) from Butler’s gathering site, and close enough to the volunteer fire station where he worked for decades that she can be easily heard when the sirens go off.
Trump is scheduled to hold a rally on Saturday on the same grounds where he was shot in the ear, before defiantly raising his fist and saying “Fight!”, in what has become an iconic image of his campaign.
Several members of the Comperatori family will be Trump’s guests at this weekend’s rally, including Helen.
Corey Comperatore, 50, was killed in the July shooting, and two other people suffered “life-changing” injuries: 57-year-old David Dutch and 74-year-old James Copenhaver.
An internal Secret Service review has since identified a series of security failures that day, including poor planning and a communications breakdown.
Corey, who was a staunch supporter of the current Republican presidential candidate, was excited for the July rally, his wife said.
“He loved how [Trump] He got things done, he wasn’t a politician and he didn’t talk like a politician.”
She said they believe Trump understands the lives of people like them, in places like Butler, a working-class community just north of Pittsburgh.
Helen Comperatore
At the rally, the family accidentally ended up in the stands between Trump and the shooter.
They took time to eat beforehand and skipped the opening to get a seat – much to Corey’s disappointment. But then a man came and offered them a place in the stands.
About six minutes into Trump’s speech, Crooks fired eight shots from a roof just outside the perimeter of the rally, one of which struck Trump’s right ear and another of which struck and killed Corey as he was protecting his family.
Helen Comperatore
In the months before her husband was killed, the couple spent every weekend on their boat.
“We loved that time together,” Helen said.
“We talked about everything. We made a lot of future plans on that boat. I knew a lot about Corey and what his desires were, if anything ever happened to him.”
The couple had known each other all their lives, and began going to school together in kindergarten.
She said her husband often appeared straight-faced and serious, but behind the facade he was a very kind and caring man.
“As soon as he smiled, I knew he was a good, good man,” she said.
“He would do anything for his community. He loved his children. His children were everything to him.”
His daughters, Alison and Kylie, are nurses and are struggling to return to work while grieving for their father, Helen said.
She now questions, “What does he want me to do? What will Corey do?” Help guide it.
“It’s definitely a struggle. I realize that I always knew he took care of me, but I never realized how much I missed him,” she said.
Ross Atkins responds to… Three questions about the attempted assassination of Trump
Corey Comperatore was honored at the Republican National Convention in July, where his helmet and coat were displayed on stage as Trump spoke.
At the July meeting, Helen said, Corey hoped — and joked — that Trump would call him out on stage.
The family watched the Republican National Convention moment on television, after Trump told Helen about the planned tribute.
“I cried because I said he got his moment on stage with Trump,” she said. “So, you know, it was a beautiful moment, but it was a sad moment at the same time.”
