Latest news with #FarmShow
Mint
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Six US Secret Service agents suspended for lapse during Donald Trump Butler assassination attempt
Six Secret Service agents have been suspended without pay for lapses connected to last year's assassination attempt on US President Donald Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. According to Secret Service Deputy Director Matt Quinn, the suspensions range from 10 to 42 days. While the agents will not be dismissed, they will be reassigned to roles with reduced operational responsibilities once they return to duty, the New York Post reported. 'We aren't going to fire our way out of this,' Quinn told the outlet. 'We're going to focus on the root cause and fix the deficiencies that put us in that situation.' During a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds on July 13, 2024, Trump, then the presumptive Republican nominee, was grazed in the ear by a bullet fired by 20-year-old would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks. The shot left Trump visibly bloodied. Firefighter Corey Comperatore was fatally shot while protecting his family, and two others sustained serious injuries. Crooks had positioned himself on an unsecured rooftop with a direct view of the stage before being neutralized by a Secret Service sniper. A second assasination attempt against Trump took place two months later at the president's Palm Beach, Fla., golf course. 'Butler was an operational failure and we are focused today on ensuring that it never happens again,' Matt Quinn told CBS News. However, earlier in September 2024, in a post on his own social media platform, Truth Social, Donald Trump thanked the US Secret Service and other law enforcement officials for keeping him safe during the assassination attempt. 'THE JOB DONE WAS ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING. I would like to thank everyone for your concern and well wishes — It was certainly an interesting day! Most importantly, I want to thank the US Secret Service, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and his Office of brave and dedicated patriots, and, all of the law enforcement, for the incredible job done today at Trump International in keeping me, as the 45th President of the United States, and the Republican nominee in the upcoming presidential election, SAFE,' he wrote.
Sky News AU
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Secret Service suspends six agents assigned to protect Donald Trump during Butler assassination attempt
Six members of the Secret Service have been suspended for failures related to last year's assassination attempt against President Trump at a rally in Butler, Pa. The suspensions for the six agents ranged from 10 to 42 days, and they won't be paid while on leave, Secret Service Deputy Director Matt Quinn told CBS News on Wednesday. The agents will not be fired, but upon return to work, they will be placed in roles with diminished operational responsibility. 'We aren't going to fire our way out of this,' Quinn told the outlet. 'We're going to focus on the root cause and fix the deficiencies that put us in that situation.' Trump was struck in the ear by one of the bullets fired by would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks on July 13, 2024, during a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show grounds, leaving the then presumptive Republican nominee for president bloodied. Firefighter Corey Comperatore was killed shielding his family from Crooks' bullets, and two others were left with severe injuries before the 20-year-old gunman — positioned on an unguarded roof with a clear line of sight toward Trump — was taken out by a Secret Service sniper. A scathing Senate report on the assassination attempt released in September determined that 'multiple foreseeable and preventable planning and operational failures by [Secret Service] contributed' to Crooks' ability to carry out the deadly shooting. 'These included unclear roles and responsibilities, insufficient coordination with state and local law enforcement, the lack of effective communications, and inoperable [Counter-Unmanned Aircraft] systems, among many others,' the damning report read. A second assasination attempt against Trump took place two months later at the president's Palm Beach, Fla., golf course. Quinn insisted that the Secret Service is 'totally accountable for Butler.' 'Butler was an operational failure and we are focused today on ensuring that it never happens again,' he said. The official noted that the agency now has a new fleet of drones and mobile command posts that let agents communicate over radio directly with local law enforcement. The Secret Service did not respond to The Post's request for comment. Originally published as Secret Service suspends six agents assigned to protect Donald Trump during Butler assassination attempt
USA Today
08-07-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Western Pa. county copes with trauma, embraces resiliency year after Trump rally shooting
BUTLER, Pa. — When Amy Smith thinks back to July 13, she's met with conflicting feelings. "It feels like an eternity ago, but it feels like yesterday at the same time," Smith said. It's been one year since 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, the man identified by the FBI, climbed the roof of American Glass Research and fired eight rounds from 150 yards away at then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. He was just minutes into a campaign speech to more than 15,000 rallygoers at the Butler Farm Show grounds. More: 'That throbbing feeling': Trump's reminder of the threat to his life Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old husband, father and volunteer firefighter from Sarver, was killed and three others wounded, including Trump, who miraculously escaped the ensuing chaos with a minor ear injury. Smith is one of several family members who operate Brenckle's Farms and Greenhouses, which is across the street from the American Glass Research property. Smith and family members joined hundreds of other spectators on the AGR property to peer through a chain-link fence into the Farm Show grounds where Trump spoke. It didn't feel safe. "There was a vibe," Smith said. "I was shocked we were even allowed over there," added Stephanie Costlow, Smith's sister. "We were right there. We witnessed it all." They remember the chaos that unfolded moments into Trump's speech as law enforcement closed in on Crooks' location. Smith's husband, Greg Smith, gave one of the first interviews from the scene, in which he told the BBC how he was trying to alert police to Crooks' presence before the shooting. "There's a guy on the roof with a rifle," Greg Smith recalled telling law enforcement in the viral interview, which was shared on social media by Elon Musk, among others. In the days that followed, scores of people, mostly reporters, from around the world called the Smiths, visited the business and went to their home. They even received death threats. "Afterwards it was awful," Costlow said. "There was press everywhere, especially our business. They were out in our pavilion, thousands of people, for months. That was the hard part, because it was every day, and we were trying to get over it." A growing, rural community in the heart of MAGA country, Butler County has long boasted about being the birthplace of the Jeep. But within 26 seconds on a sweltering hot July day in 2024 it became known around the world as a crime scene, the site of an attempted assassination of a former and future American president. Most residents don't talk about the tragedy that's now forever carved in American political history. "It's not because they forgot about it," says Jim Hulings, the 80-year-old Zelienople resident who was tapped to lead the Butler County Republican Party a month before the rally. "It's because they don't want to think about it." Some seek closure. Others demand answers about inadequate measures taken to protect Trump and rallygoers. "It should have never happened," Smith said. Butler County residents have collectively coped with the loss of a respected community member and the trauma of witnessing deadly violence firsthand. "The people around Corey, they saw him get shot," Hulings said. "He died on top of his family trying to save them. Two other guys got shot. The bullets were zinging over our heads. There were young kids, young people there who had never seen violence in their life." Concerns before Crooks Hulings never thought something like a political assassination attempt could happen in Butler, especially not to Trump in a county where 65% of voters have for decades backed the GOP presidential candidate. Not in a community with a low crime rate that turned out roughly 50,000 supporters to the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport when Trump campaigned there four years earlier. There were signs of trouble, though, that concerned Hulings on the eve of the rally. "People started to worry about stuff the night before when we were allegedly trained," he said. "The training was abysmal. There was a hundred people. They walked us around the grounds, but we couldn't hear what the guy was saying who was supposed to be training us." Trump supporters who traveled from afar were already camped out in their cars near the venue, he recalled. He worried about parking and the distance people would have to walk between the parking lot and venue. He wasn't the only one concerned. U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly and the county sheriff each placed calls to the FBI field office in Pittsburgh around July 4 to express their worries about the venue. The Butler County Fairgrounds would have been a better option, Kelly believed, since the regional airport where Trump previously spoke was booked. But by that point the Trump campaign had already signed a contract to use the location. The Butler County Department of Emergency Services, which coordinates fire and EMS and operates the 911 center, was preparing for high heat and high humidity for a venue with virtually no shade cover. People would be standing in the summer sun for hours. More than 15 agencies were pulled in to help that day, including a special medical response team from the state. "From the beginning" there were concerns, said emergency services Director Steve Bicehouse. "We didn't say it, because we won't do that. We adapt and we do what we have to do." Paramedics and emergency medical technicians on July 13 treated 250 people and released 242 of them on scene, most of them for heat-related medical issues. Six more were transported by ambulance and two others, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, the two men who were critically injured by Crooks' gunfire, were taken to a hospital by helicopter. The U.S. Secret Service rushed Trump from the rally. Comperatore was pronounced dead at the scene. Rob McLafferty, Butler County's 911 director, was at the rally with Bicehouse that day. He remembers calling dispatchers to request helicopters while simultaneously treating shooting victims. "I'd asked for two aircraft when I called," he said. "Our folks said, 'there's already four on standby. The closest two have 15-minute ETAs, and you're going to get these two aircraft.' They knew we were going to be asking for that resource. They knew that was coming. They were busy, and yet they picked up the phone and called both of the local helicopter services before we even asked." Chris Beck, who's now the department's quality assurance and education supervisor, was running the 911 Center that day. Dispatchers monitored the rally from a TV broadcast. "We knew before the first call came in that there was some incident," Beck said. "We didn't know what at that point. For as chaotic as things were, the 911 staff was a well-oiled machine." No one was panicking, even as nearly 20 people called in to report the shooting. Bicehouse remembers how other first responders at the scene quickly pivoted from caring for patients suffering from heat exhaustion to treating shooting victims. "They went rushing right to the front to try to take care of the people who were there," he said. "It just shows the character and courage and the commitment and the training of these volunteers, mostly. They didn't think about the surreal moment until afterward when it all settled down and it was like, 'holy crap. What just happened?'" In the days that followed, first responders met for what they call a "critical incident stress debriefing." It became clear that the rally had a lasting effect on them, Bicehouse said. "There's still trauma out there," he said. "We still think about it, we still deal with it. So it never goes away from us. We'll always be linked to that day." Many of the emergency responders knew Comperatore, a longtime volunteer firefighter who had served a stint as chief of the Buffalo Township Fire Co. "Not only did we lose a responder, but we lost somebody who was well liked," McLafferty said. "He was just there with his family. Didn't do anything wrong. He died trying to protect his family." Coping with tragedy Shanea Clancy, a lifelong Butler County resident, is a forensic trauma-informed registered nurse whose consulting firm has provided community members with mental health services since the shooting. For many, the initial shock of the shooting turned into post-traumatic stress disorder. "Because it was in my backyard — I grew up literally 10 minutes from where the attempt happened — the response was really about mobilizing resources, providing support, consultations, different ways to debrief, especially for a lot of folks who were not only there, but who responded," Clancy said. "They experienced secondhand trauma." Hulings noted that the deeply religious community leaned on their faith to heal. He remembers driving through Butler Sunday morning, the day after the shooting. "Every church we went past — and there's a church on every corner — the parking lot was full," Hulings said. Searching for answers A whiteboard towers over U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly's desk inside his Butler office. "Attempted Assass. Task Force" is scrawled along the top. Beneath those four words are three columns. One, in black marker, is titled "site selection process." Another has the heading "Security/Law Enforcement." The third column stands out the only one written in red ink. "Why was Trump allowed on stage?" it says. For Kelly, who grew up on his father's car lots in Butler before taking over the family dealership, it's a question that's eaten at him since the assassination attempt. More: Pa. congressman continues seeking answers to Trump assassination attempt a year later House Speaker Mike Johnson named Kelly chairman of the task force that lawmakers unanimously created to probe the security lapses. But with only five months until the end of the 118th session of Congress, the task force had to work fast to produce a report by the end of 2024. Kelly believed that federal agencies wouldn't fully cooperate with the task force when it came to providing certain documentation or granting access to employees for interviews. They couldn't answer certain questions because their agency's own internal investigations were still ongoing, Kelly said. "There was no perimeter set up," said Kelly, whose office is adorned with a statuette of Trump in the moments after he was shot — fist in the air, shouting "fight" to the crowd. "They had a drone and the drone didn't fly. They were using cell phones to communicate with each other. They had two separate command posts. They had no covering over the fence. "There were four members of Secret Service," Kelly continued. "Homeland flew in 16 people. They got to the site at 10 o'clock that morning. They had never been on the site. There was no site preparation. There was nothing put in place for security, and it wasn't until the actual morning of the event that anybody had even walked the surface of it. How could you be so ill-prepared? I can't get an answer to that." Kelly wants to know why security for the rally was so unlike other campaign events coordinated by the Secret Service. More: What went wrong? How did Secret Service allow shooter to get so close to Trump? He wants to know why local law enforcement wasn't given more direction from their federal counterparts. He wants to know why Crooks was able to fly a drone over the rally site, and why the Secret Service's own drone was inoperable that day. He wants to know if someone on the federal level will ever take responsibility for the security failures, instead of blaming local law enforcement. "They did everything they were asked to do," Kelly said about local first responders. And he wants to know why Trump was ever allowed to take the stage when law enforcement was still trying to locate a suspicious person, who had been spotted with a rangefinder and later a firearm just outside the perimeter of the venue. The lack of answers, Kelly said, has only made matters worse for federal agencies and the public. "That you can't get direct answers is what gives rise to the fact that there's conspiracy theories," Kelly said. 'Too many coincidences' Like Kelly, Hulings and other Republicans are frustrated that so many questions remain unanswered. "There are too many coincidences for there not to be a conspiracy," Hulings said as he drove the hilly countryside of Butler County en route to the home of Bill Adams, a local Republican donor. Adams, 80, was a successful innovator whose company, Adams Manufacturing, made products sold at major hardware stores. Adams, who has since sold his business, lives in a white house that stands alone atop a large hill in the rural, picturesque town of Portersville. Waiting with Adams was Chester "Chet" Jack, a 66-year-old member of both the state and county Republican committees. Hulings calls Adams the party's "honey bee." "And if he's the honey bee, then Chet is the worker bee," he quipped. Adams and Jack each believe there's much more to know about what happened that day, but they don't consider themselves conspiracy theorists. Hulings, Jack and Adams were behind a 2024 petition drive that urged Butler County District Attorney Richard A. Goldinger to ask the chief judge of the Butler County Court of Common Pleas to launch a grand jury investigation. A grand jury would have enforceable subpoena power and be able to compel officials at all levels of government to testify, they argued. The 8,000 other people who signed the petition agreed. Goldinger, however, told the men in a Nov. 19 letter that after meeting with Pennsylvania State Police to learn details of its probe, he'd reached the conclusion that a grand jury wasn't necessary. It would only reach the same conclusion that state police and others would come to, he wrote. "It's one of our residents who got murdered," Jack said. "Yeah, it's a big deal that Trump got shot and all that, but you have a local guy that got murdered and there's all these outstanding questions." They're convinced someone is trying to hide something. Adams wonders if Crooks was "seduced, corrupted or led astray" by someone else. "You're led to believe there's got to be some reason that they're not answering the questions," he said. Jack held gatherings with other Republicans who attended the rally to talk about what they experienced. People were "wigged out about this whole thing," he said. "It was a terrifying day for them," he said. "The conversations have gone on, but the attitude is that this whole thing's getting whitewashed, that there's more to it and we don't know it. Without the transparency, people are going to jump to that conclusion." When Trump returned Oct. 5 to finish the speech he had started months early, security was extremely tight. It stood in stark contrast to what Hulings had experienced July 13, 2024. "It was a mind-blower," he said about Trump's return, which featured a Who's Who of GOP stars, including now-Vice President J.D. Vance and Musk. Moving on It's common for trauma to reemerge around the anniversaries of tragic events, Clancy said. She encourages anyone who needs help to call 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Butler residents don't want to be remembered for this one day. They don't want to be defined by it. "This really isn't any kind of identity for Butler County, even though it has been placed — on such a large scale — in a negative limelight," Clancy said. "But the community is very supportive, very resilient. I don't think Butler County will be remembered for this." Helen Comperatore, Corey's Comperatore's widow, doesn't want anyone to forget about her husband — not only for the heroism he showed when he died, but also for the life he lived before it. "I want people to remember Corey as the handsome, very happy and proud husband of Helen and father to Allyson and Kaylee," she said. "He was the guy that was always outside playing with his Dobermans, or fishing with his wife at the river in their boat. Except Sundays, that was the Lord's day, and he would be at church in the morning." Matthew Rink is a USA TODAY Network Pennsylvania investigative journalist.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Final day of farm show caps off three-day agriculture event
PITTSBURG, Kan. — A three-day agriculture event wraps up today in southeast Kansas. Today was the final day for the 50th Four State Farm Show at the Robert W. Plaster Center in Pittsburg. PREVIOUS: Farm show and graduation attract thousands to Pittsburg area and hotels The event brings in people from around the Four States and across the U.S. Four State Farm Show officials tell us Saturday was one of their busy days with more foot traffic but Sunday was a little slower because of Mother's Day. Some booths wrapped up early, while other stuck around until 3. We spoke with one attendee who checked out the event for the first time. 'I think it's definitely important just getting out there. Although you're already grown to such a large size, there's never a stopping point at who you get your name out to. Also, just looking at some of the other products, there's a way you can look around and improve your own,' said Zaylain Baldwin, a Four State Farm Show attendee. 'We have been doing this a couple of years and it's mainly for promotional and we make a little bit of money. So it's a win-win both ways,' said Rumor Tackett, Northstar Metalworks. Attendees this weekend could register to win a $1,000 shopping spree. The winner was announced at 2:30 this afternoon. They have until July 1 to redeem their prize with any Farm Show exhibitor. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBC
25-03-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Sask. farmers say they're fed up with America, but also the Liberal government
Social Sharing As punishing Chinese and American tariffs threaten Canada's exports, Sask. farmers expressed anger and frustration over what they called U.S. President Donald Trump's "stupidity." But for all the vitriol they have toward the U.S. leader, they also showed disdain for former prime minister Justin Trudeau and his successor, Mark Carney. "Everything is for the east," said Carl Jensen, who farms in Invermay, Sask., about 250 kilometres east of Saskatoon, during Canada's Farm Show last week. CBC Saskatchewan spent a morning at the Farm Show in Regina as part of its national efforts to find out what matters to Canadians in this federal election campaign. What issue matters the most to you this federal election, and why? Share your personal stories with us at ask@ Jensen, along with other agricultural producers at the event, expressed bewilderment at the narrowing of polls that once showed a rock-solid Conservative majority. "If the Liberals get in, I think, what's gonna happen here? Western Canada is going to separate." Like many others at this farm show, the Jensens identify as Conservative Party supporters. Conservative MPs took all 14 Saskatchewan seats in the previous federal election. "We've had so many years of Liberals and their policies that do not support Western Canada at all," said Carl's wife, Elsie Jensen. She voiced a commonly-expressed view at the show that Saskatchewan boasts natural resources and should have thriving energy and farm sectors, but haven't seen the benefit of those resources. "We're carrying the country and they're punishing us." Tariffs causing stress Tariffs were top of mind for many of the farmers at the show. China recently introduced 100 per cent tariffs on Canadian canola oil and canola meal. That move is seen as a tit-for-tat measure in response to Canada's 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles. Meanwhile, America is poised to implement 25 per cent tariffs on all products — including canola — next month. The Jensens also shared another commonly-expressed view at this Farm Show, that Canadian-imposed tariffs on China's EVs were meant to support an auto industry in the east at the cost of farmers in the west. "The circumstances now are just going from bad to worse with Trump's policies, with China's response to Trudeau's stupidity," Elsie said. "You have to play ball with the Chinese. We get everything from China," her husband added. As angering as tariffs are, the couple and others at the farm show also expressed continued ire over the carbon tax, with the Jensens describing it as driving up the cost of everything, with the rebate not covering the tax's true costs. While Carney had signed a prime ministerial directive to kill the unpopular fuel tax as of April 1, many at the farm show expressed deep skepticism that he would truly "axe the tax," as Conservative Party leader Pierre Pollievre has been calling for. "Would you trust the Liberals? It's just the ploy because the election has been announced. It's just a ploy to get more votes," Carl said. Former Sask. premier Brad Wall has also spoken about Carney's apparent killing of the carbon tax, saying the prime minister will "not get rid of the carbon tax, but he will hide it," by creating a shadow carbon price on Canadian business. Wall shared a Facebook post that noted reliable polls are now showing that Canadians may deny the Conservatives a majority in the upcoming federal election. "How could Canadians even flirt with such a possibility?" he asked in the post. Yvan Delorme, who runs a business spraying crops, said farmers are the lifeblood of the province, providing work for people like him who depend on the agricultural industry. "[The federal government] treats us like third-rate citizens and we're not. We should actually be the top of the food chain," he said, calling it an "understatement" to say people in Western Canada would be angry if another Liberal party government was elected. "Voting for getting another Liberal government is like crapping your pants and changing your shirt," he said with a wry laugh. WATCH | Sask. voters react to Prime Minister Mark Carney cancelling consumer carbon tax: Sask. residents express skepticism after consumer carbon tax axed 13 minutes ago Duration 1:40 Western alienation not new In a province where F--k Trudeau signs are a common sight, animosity toward the Liberals has been around for decades, said Daniel Westlake, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Saskatchewan. But he doesn't believe another Liberal win would bring the bubbling Western separatism to a boil. "Part of this is because the animosity toward the Liberals is not new, and in the past, it has never led to a serious threat of separatism," he said. While rural voters in Saskatchewan may not feel like the government represents their interests, westerners still tend to see themselves as Canadians first, he said. "I just don't think there is the sense of distinct identity as divorced from Canada that is necessary to fuel a serious separatist movement," he said, noting that even rural Western Canadians express themselves in protest by using the Canadian flag. "That suggests to me that the people expressing these views may not like the direction the current government is taking Canada, but that they still see themselves as Canadian." For now, with the federal election results still up in the air, rural voters at Canada's Farm Show said they're trying to cope with the stress of the unknown and hoping that the next government will be able to deal with Trump's volatility. The Jensens hope their canola crop could bring in a million dollars or more. Instead, tariffs could see their profits entirely evaporate and force them to look to Farm Credit Canada for help to seed next year's crop. "I think Trump figures he's an illusionist, so he's distracting us by making us think about them while he shafts us some other way," Elsie Jensen said, adding she's unsure what Canada's next leadership will do for them. "We're just kind of, 'Wait and see. Are you going to do anything to help us out?' Because farming is what we do in Saskatchewan. "It's just a very, very stressful occupation to be in right now."
