Pittsburg, PA
Trump to hold rally in Butler after first assassination attempt
BUTLER, Pa. (KDKA) — Former President Donald Trump is returning to the Butler Farm Show grounds for the first time since an assassination attempt in July.
Trump was grazed in the ear, firefighter Corey Comperatore was killed and two others were injured when Thomas Crooks opened fire from the top of a nearby building.
It’s estimated that anywhere between 15,000 to 60,000 people will attend his rally in Butler County.
The gates for Saturday’s event open at 10 a.m. Trump is expected to start speaking at 5 p.m. According to his guest list, attendees include Comperatore’s family, one of the men who was injured at the last rally, Marc Fogel’s mother Malphine, Elon Musk and vice presidential nominee JD Vance.
Construction could cause traffic issues
With construction on Route 68, traffic could be an issue. Cars were backing up on Friday. Route 68 is one of the ways into the Butler Farm Show grounds, and Meridian Road on the other side is partially closed.
“It’s going to be difficult travel tomorrow getting here to where you gotta park,” Butler County DA Richard Goldinger said.
Goldinger said local police will be assisting with traffic. State police will help. With construction near the farm show complex, Goldinger said to be patient and follow the officers’ and troopers’ instructions.
“Follow their orders. Don’t drive in closed lanes or anything like that. We want everybody to be safe,” Goldinger said.
While there is parking at the farm show, some nearby lots are selling spaces. One right next to the grounds is selling spots for $20. Some people were already paying to park on Friday. The property owner says they can fit about 400 cars and will have four to five people out getting the money and cars into the lot.
The district attorney is calling on people to have patience and plan on Saturday being a longer day out. The traffic between people, politicians and other celebrities is expected to slow down the flow of everything.
“It doesn’t change the fact that this road is under construction so it’s going to be slow travel,” Goldinger said.
Security for this Trump rally will be different
Butler County Commissioner Leslie Osche said the Butler County Emergency Services Agency will be the unified communications bridge between the United States Secret Service, state and local police, fire, and EMS.
Unlike the first rally on July 13, there will be one command post. In that post, there will be one person from all law enforcement and emergency services agencies working the rally.
During the first rally, three separate radio systems created communication delays. On Saturday, there will be one for state and local police and one for the Secret Service. A Secret Service agent will also be embedded with each state and local team.
Goldinger told KDKA-TV earlier this week that the snipers posted inside the AGR building where Crooks fired from have been asked to help again. Law enforcement will also be on top of the AGR building.
Man who was behind Trump during shooting says he’ll be back
One person expected to be in the crowd is a man who was sitting behind Trump when the former president was grazed by a bullet on July 13.
Chesher said he witnessed the attempted assassination of Trump.
“It’s been a couple of months but I’m still processing what happened that day. The emotions are all over the place,” Chesher said.
He said he’ll be back at the Butler Farm Show grounds this weekend.
“We’re forever connected to President Trump now,” Chesher said.
Not far away from Chesher, others were struck, including Comperatore, who died as a result of being hit by a bullet meant Trump.
Chesher said he believes there will be “a spiritual positivity” at the rally on Saturday. Chesher also said he believes he will be sitting behind Trump again on Saturday.
As for being worried about more violence, given what occurred, Chesher believes Saturday’s event will be a safe one.
“He said it should be the most secure event. In my heart, I believe it will be the most secure event. I think God’s on our side though,” Chesher said.
Chesher said he’s hoping to talk to the former president, and regardless, he hopes the event is peaceful.
Last year, Americans received nearly 30 billion scam robocalls and text messages. Now, leaders in Pennsylvania are taking a new approach to try to crack down on them.
“It’s not just certain audiences that are targeted in this space. It’s really everybody,” said Kate Sullivan, CEO of Better Business Bureau of Western Pennsylvania. “Robocalling is just faster and more aggressive than it’s ever been,” Sullivan said.
The prevalence, exacerbated by artificial intelligence, is why 49 attorneys general across the country sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission to strengthen its rules to prevent scammers from accessing legitimate phone numbers.
“You have individuals that will purchase maybe 100,000 different phone numbers,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said. “Those numbers will land somewhere where you have a nefarious actor who will use those numbers to do the robocalls.”
Sunday is part of the Anti-Robocall Task Force, along with West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey. Last year, the coalition sent warning letters to major phone service providers to stop allowing illegal robocalls to reach consumers. Now they’re building on this by going directly to the FCC.
“The consumer matters, and we want to make sure that our constituents, the consumers that are in our states’ voices, are being heard at the highest level as loudly as they can be,” McCuskey said.
Sunday said they want to put more onus on companies to not sell these numbers, and if they do, to have documentation that can be provided to law enforcement so they can trace back and hold the scammers accountable.
KDKA-TV reached out to the FCC for comment. A spokesperson said in part that they “welcome this input from state leaders.” They also mentioned, “The Commission proposed expanding certification and disclosure requirements to all providers that receive telephone numbering resources… to stop scammers from exploiting gaps in the system.”
“Getting ahead of it and more protections for the consumers, I think, does have quite a bit of value,” Sullivan said.
As for what you can do, the BBB and AGs said it’s better to let a robocall go to voicemail. If you decline it, that indicates you’re a real person and may get more calls. Also, make sure to report robocalls to the BBB or the Federal Trade Commission.
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