SARVER, Pa. (AP) — Hundreds of people who gathered to remember the former fire chief fatally shot at a weekend rally for former President Donald Trump were urged to find “unity” as the area in rural Pennsylvania sought to recover from the assassination attempt.
Wednesday’s public event was the first of two organized to memorialize and celebrate Corey Comperatore’s life. The second, a visitation for friends, was planned for Thursday at Laube Hall in Freeport.
Outside Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, where the vigil was held for Comperatore, a sign read: “Rest in Peace Corey, Thank You For Your Service,” with the logo of his fire company.
On the rural road to the auto racing track — lined with cornfields, churches and industrial plants — a sign outside a local credit union read: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the Comperatore family.”
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Comperatore, 50, had worked as a project and tooling engineer, was an Army reservist and spent many years as a volunteer firefighter after serving as chief, according to his obituary.
He died Saturday during the attempt on Trump’s life at the rally in Butler.
Comperatore spent the final moments of his life shielding his wife and daughter from gunfire, officials said.
Vigil organizer Kelly McCollough told the crowd Wednesday that the event was not political in nature, adding that there was no room for hate or personal opinions other than an outpouring of support for the Comperatore family.
“Tonight is about unity,” McCollough said. “We need each other. We need to feel love. We need to feel safe. We need clarity in this chaos. We need strength. We need healing.”
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Dan Ritter, who gave a eulogy, said he bought Comperatore’s childhood home in 1993 — sparking a friendship that grew with their shared values of family, Christian faith and politics.
“Corey loved his family and was always spending time with them,” Ritter said. “This past Saturday was supposed to be one of those days for him. He did what a good father would do. He protected those he loved. He’s a true hero for us all.”
Jeff Lowers of the Freeport Fire Department trained with Comperatore and said at the vigil that he always had a smile on his face.
Afterward, Heidi Powell, a family friend, read remarks from Comperatore’s high school economics teacher, who could not attend the vigil.
“What made Corey truly extraordinary was his indomitable spirit, unyielding courage, his unflappable optimism,” the teacher, Mark Wyant, wrote.
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Comperatore’s pastor, Jonathan Fehl of Cabot Methodist Church in Cabot, said the family “has been humbled by the way this community has rallied around them,” and by the support they have received from people around the world.
The vigil concluded with people in the crowd lighting candles and raising cellphones, glow sticks and lighters as Comperatore’s favorite song — “I Can Only Imagine,” by Christian rock band MercyMe — played while pictures of him and his family were shown on a screen.
Two other people were injured at the rally: David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township. As of Wednesday night, both had been upgraded to serious but stable condition, according to a spokesperson with Allegheny Health Network.
In a statement, Dutch’s family thanked the “greater western Pennsylvania community and countless others across the country and world” for the incredible outpouring of prayers and well wishes.
Trump suffered an ear injury but was not seriously hurt and has been participating this week in the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
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AP reporters Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas, and Lisa Baumann in Bellingham, Washington, contributed.
BUTLER TWP., Pa. (WPVI) — A Pennsylvania State Trooper who was killed in a crash on Interstate 81 will be laid to rest Wednesday.
A public viewing for Trooper Michael Pahira, Jr., is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at North Schuylkill High School in Butler Township.
A funeral will follow at 11 a.m.
Trooper Pahira was fatally struck on I-81 last week by a tractor-trailer while conducting a safety inspection on another truck in Cass Township, Schuylkill County.
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According to state police, a passing commercial vehicle hit Pahira while he was conducting the inspection with his emergency lights activated.
The alleged driver, 33-year-old Michael Bon, is facing homicide charges. He is being held on $700,000 bail.
Pahira, 44, was assigned to Troop L, Frackville and had been with the state police for 20 years.
A Butler County man, along with a national gun rights organization, filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday against the Pennsylvania State Police challenging the law that prohibits those with even minor drug convictions from being able to obtain a license to carry a concealed firearm.
The Second Amendment lawsuit comes within days of two significant decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court expanding gun rights — including one directly on point in which the court found, unanimously, that it was improper for the federal government to prosecute a man for illegal firearm possession only because he regularly used marijuana.
“(T)he court rejected the government’s theory ‘that anyone who regularly uses marijuana is categorically violent and dangerous without any further showing,’ ” the lawsuit said.
It is that principle that Craig Philips, of Butler, and Gun Owners of America Inc., cite in the 22-page complaint filed in Pittsburgh against Pennsylvania State Police Acting Commissioner Lt. Col. George L. Bivens and Butler County Sheriff Michael T. Slupe.
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Philips is a member of Gun Owners of America, the national nonprofit formed in 1976 with 2 million members and supporters. He asserts that Pennsylvania’s law governing who can obtain a license to carry a gun infringes on his constitutional right to bear arms.
He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1989 until 1992 and received an honorable discharge, the lawsuit said. Then, in 1994, it continued, Philips was convicted of possessing a small amount of marijuana, categorized as an ungraded misdemeanor.
The lawsuit asserts he has not used marijuana since that conviction and that he recently retired as an air conditioning equipment mechanic for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
While Philips, the lawsuit said, is legally allowed to own and posses firearms and has purchased handguns after passing required background checks, he is not, under Pennsylvania’s law eligible to obtain a license to carry a firearm.
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He attempted to get one in 2024, the lawsuit said, in Butler County, but was denied because of the 1994 marijuana conviction.
“Defendants cannot historically justify that infringement based on a single marijuana conviction from 1994 where plaintiff Philips has since lived as a law-abiding citizen and remains eligible to possess firearms,” the lawsuit said. “No current facts support any finding that Plaintiff Philips is dangerous to himself or others.”
Without a license to carry, the lawsuit said, Philips is substantially restricted from transporting a firearm in a vehicle, carrying one for protection during a state of emergency or “exercising his right to bear arms in ordinary public life.”
The lawsuit challenges Pennsylvania’s statute that denies a license to carry a firearm to any person convicted of any offense under Pennsylvania’s drug laws “irrespective of the facts of the underlying offense or the offender’s peaceful nature.”
Pennsylvania’s drug laws, the lawsuit said, encompasses everything from ungraded misdemeanors for possessing a small amount of marijuana to possession of drug paraphernalia up to felony counts for intent to deliver a controlled substance.
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The lawsuit filed Tuesday does not challenge denials for those convicted of felony offenses — only those who remain otherwise eligible.
It seeks an order finding the state’s denial of Philips’ license to carry violates the Second and 14th amendments, as well as an order permanently enjoining the state from denying a license to Philips and all other individuals prohibited based on convictions for a small amount of marijuana.
Additionally, it asks that the defendants be required to cite individualized evidence why a person ought to be denied because of potential danger to public safety.
Philips’ attorneys wrote that a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision out of New York said that a person’s right to bear arms “’shall not be infringed.’”
“Period,” Philips attorneys wrote. “There are no ‘ifs, ands or buts,’ and it does not matter (even a little bit) how important, significant, compelling or overriding the government’s justification for or interest in infringing the right.”
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Messages left with the state police Tuesday evening were not immediately returned.
Pennsylvania entered the Union in 1787 as one of the original 13 states. The eleven Pennsylvania towns below cover the full range of the state’s small-town identity. Bethlehem holds its Christmas City reputation with cobblestone streets and 19th-century lampposts. Wellsboro keeps working gas-powered streetlights along a Victorian Main Street. Lititz was founded by Moravian settlers in 1756 and holds America’s oldest commercial pretzel bakery. Each of the eleven Pennsylvania communities ahead delivers history and small-town hospitality in equal measure.
Williamsport
Williamsport, Pennsylvania from a mountain lookout.
Williamsport sits on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River as the seat of Lycoming County. The town was founded in 1769 and grew into the lumber capital of the United States during the 1880s, when Williamsport produced more lumber than any other city in the world and reportedly had more millionaires per capita than anywhere else in America. The Millionaires’ Row Historic District along West Fourth Street preserves more than 250 Victorian mansions built by the lumber barons (the district is on the National Register of Historic Places). The Little League Baseball World Series, held each August at Howard J. Lamade Stadium in nearby South Williamsport since 1959, anchors the town’s modern identity. The Susquehanna River waterfront covers hiking, jogging, cycling, and boating access.
Bethlehem
Main Street in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Image credit: Alizada Studios via Shutterstock.
Bethlehem was founded by Moravian settlers on Christmas Eve in 1741 and named for the biblical birthplace of Jesus. The town has carried the nickname “Christmas City USA” since 1937. The historic Moravian section on Main Street still runs cobblestone, 19th-century lampposts, horse-drawn carriage rides, and the Christkindlmarkt holiday market each November-December. The Moravian Bookshop, founded in 1745, is the oldest continuously operating bookstore in the United States. The 1741 Sun Inn and the Historic Moravian Bethlehem district, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2024, preserve the original Moravian community buildings. The SteelStacks campus on the south side of the river runs a music and arts venue built on the site of the former Bethlehem Steel works.
Easton
The Delaware River in Easton, Pennsylvania.
Easton sits at the confluence of the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers as the seat of Northampton County, settled by colonists in 1739. The town’s Centre Square is the historic heart, where the Easton Farmers Market (operating since 1752 and one of the oldest continuously operating outdoor markets in the country) still runs every Saturday from April through November. The Crayola Experience downtown is the only Crayola-branded attraction in the country, drawing families to the headquarters of the company that has produced Crayola crayons since 1903. The National Canal Museum at Hugh Moore Park covers the Lehigh and Delaware Canal era, with a working mule-drawn canal boat ride along a restored section of the canal.
Swarthmore
Swarthmore College campus. Image credit: Spiroview Inc via Shutterstock.
Swarthmore is a small college town of just over 6,000 residents wrapped around Swarthmore College, founded in 1864 as a Quaker institution and consistently ranked among the top liberal arts colleges in the country. The campus is a designated arboretum, and the Scott Arboretum maintains more than 4,000 plant types across the grounds, all free and open to the public year-round. Downtown Swarthmore is a walkable strip of boutique shops and restaurants. The Crum Creek and Crum Woods on the western edge of campus run hiking trails through old-growth forest. Philadelphia is a 30-minute SEPTA train ride away on the Media/Wawa line, making Swarthmore an easy commute or day-trip base.
Indiana
Indiana, Pennsylvania old courthouse at sunset. Image credit: Michael Deemer via Shutterstock.
Indiana, Pennsylvania, the seat of Indiana County (founded 1805), bills itself as the Christmas Tree Capital of the World thanks to the dozens of local tree farms that supply the regional and national markets. Indiana University of Pennsylvania, founded in 1875, anchors the town with the largest of Pennsylvania’s 14 state-system universities. The Jimmy Stewart Museum on Philadelphia Street honors the actor and Indiana’s native son, with exhibits on Stewart’s career, his World War II Army Air Forces service, and the growth of mid-century Hollywood. Downtown Indiana runs a walkable strip of restaurants, independent shops, and the historic Indiana Theater.
Lawrenceville
Residential street in Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh. Image credit: Tupungato via Shutterstock.
Lawrenceville sits about five miles from downtown Pittsburgh’s center and dates to 1793. Today the neighborhood is one of Pittsburgh’s leading restaurant and boutique-shop corridors, particularly along Butler Street, where the Lawrenceville Stripe holds dozens of independent restaurants, vintage shops, and galleries. Arsenal Park preserves the site of the 1814 Allegheny Arsenal, which produced ordnance for the U.S. Army during the Civil War (the 1862 Allegheny Arsenal Explosion killed 78 workers, mostly women and girls, and was the deadliest civilian disaster of the war on the Union side). The Stephen Foster Memorial Highway runs through Lawrenceville, near the songwriter’s birthplace and final resting place at Allegheny Cemetery.
Mars
Downtown Mars, Pennsylvania with the Flying Saucer in the foreground.
Mars sits about 25 miles north of Pittsburgh and was formally established in the 1880s. Local lore traces the planetary name to local resident Samuel Marshall (the town was originally called Marsville) or to a postal-service requirement that the name be shortened to four letters. Today, the town of fewer than 1,500 residents leans into the planetary theme with a Flying Saucer monument in the town square, a Mars New Year celebration timed to Mars’s orbit around the sun (every 687 Earth days), and themed restaurants and shops. The Mars Area Public Library runs a steady calendar of community events.
Wellsboro
Main Street of Wellsboro in Tioga County, Pennsylvania. Image credit: George Sheldon via Shutterstock.
Wellsboro, the seat of Tioga County and incorporated in 1830, still runs gas-powered streetlights along Main Street. The town’s preserved Victorian commercial district includes the Penn Wells Hotel (1869), the Arcadia Theatre (1921), and a wealth of brick storefronts. The Pine Creek Gorge, often called the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon, runs more than 47 miles long and 1,450 feet deep at its deepest point through Tioga State Forest just outside town. Leonard Harrison State Park on the east rim and Colton Point State Park on the west rim deliver overlooks of the gorge. The 62-mile Pine Creek Rail Trail along the gorge floor runs through old railroad cuts for biking, hiking, and cross-country skiing.
Bloomsburg
Market Square in downtown Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. Image credit: George Sheldon via Shutterstock.
Bloomsburg sits along the North Branch of the Susquehanna River and was established in 1797. The town is home to Commonwealth University-Bloomsburg (founded 1839 as a state normal school) and the Bloomsburg Fair, held each September since 1855 as the largest agricultural fair in Pennsylvania. The Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble, an Equity-affiliated company since 1978, runs a year-round season at the historic Alvina Krause Theatre downtown. Downtown Bloomsburg holds Federal-style brick commercial architecture, the historic Town Park, and direct river-walk access along the Susquehanna.
Johnstown
A view of downtown Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Image credit: Wirestock Creators via Shutterstock.
Johnstown, founded in 1800 about 70 miles east of Pittsburgh, is best known for the 1889 Johnstown Flood, when the failure of the South Fork Dam released 20 million tons of water that killed 2,209 people and destroyed the city. The Johnstown Flood Museum on Washington Street covers the disaster and the rebuilding that followed. The Johnstown Inclined Plane on the city’s western hillside has been operating since 1891 and remains the steepest vehicular inclined plane in the world at a 71% grade. The Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art holds rotating regional exhibits, the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra has performed since 1929, and the Johnstown Folk Festival each September draws regional crowds for music, food, and dance.
Lititz
The former Wilbur Chocolate factory in downtown Lititz, Pennsylvania.
Lititz was founded by Moravian settlers in 1756 as a closed religious community that remained Moravian-only for nearly a century. The town preserves 18th and 19th-century buildings including the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery, founded in 1861 and recognized as America’s first commercial pretzel bakery. The Sturgis bakery building itself dates to 1784. Linden Hall, founded in 1746 by the Moravian community, is the oldest continuously operating all-girls boarding school in the United States. The Wilbur Chocolate factory (now refurbished into a hotel, restaurant, and food market) anchors East Main Street. The Lititz Fire and Ice Festival each February and the Lititz Springs Park 4th of July (the longest continuously running Independence Day celebration in the country, since 1818) round out the annual calendar.
Why These Eleven Pennsylvania Towns Hold Up
Each of the eleven communities above runs a different version of small-town Pennsylvania. Bethlehem, Lititz, and Wellsboro all preserve historic religious or commercial districts that date to the 18th and early 19th centuries. Williamsport, Easton, and Johnstown carry the marks of major industrial chapters (lumber, canals, steel) that shaped the state. Swarthmore, Indiana, and Bloomsburg run college-town economies built around small-but-respected institutions. Lawrenceville and Mars each anchor offbeat identities (Pittsburgh boutique corridor and planetary-themed novelty) that no other Pennsylvania town quite replicates.
