‘Suspensions Aren’t Punishment’: Widow Of Slain Fire Chief Slams Secret Service Over Trump Rally Failures

The widow of Corey Comperatore, the Buffalo Township fire chief killed shielding his daughter during the July 2024 assassination attempt on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, slammed the Secret Service Saturday, saying suspensions handed to agents responsible are “not punishment.”

Six Secret Service agents, including members from the Pittsburgh field office and Trump’s protective detail, received suspensions ranging from 10 to 45 days after security failures allowed Thomas Matthew Crooks to open fire at the rally in Butler, Pa. Crooks fired eight shots, killing Comperatore and wounding two others. Trump was grazed by a bullet but survived. (RELATED: ‘They Need To Listen To Me’: Firefighter’s Widow Still Seeking Answers Year After Trump Rally Shooting)

🚨 Corey Comperatore’s widow Helen demands answers after he was killed during the attempted assassination of President Trump at a rally in Butler, PA a year ago tomorrow.

She deserves answers!
pic.twitter.com/Dy5a1SuRpG

— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) July 12, 2025

“Suspending them when my husband was killed? You know, that’s not punishment,” Helen Comperatore told “FOX & Friends Weekend,” her voice breaking. “We really haven’t healed that much. We have no answers.”

Though Helen believes Crooks “acted alone,” she said she holds the Secret Service responsible for the botched security operation. “I believe that they failed my husband miserably, and I want answers from them,” she said. “I want to sit down with the Secret Service and have them tell me everything that happened that day. Why was Butler such a failure? Why did Crooks walk around for an hour without being stopped?”

Two weeks after the shooting, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned amid the fallout. A September Senate report highlighted “multiple foreseeable and preventable planning and operational failures” by the agency that contributed to Crooks’ ability to carry out the attack.