Butler County 1st responders to play prominent role in Trump's inaugural parade

First responders from Butler County, Pennsylvania – the site of the first assassination attempt on Donald Trump during the presidential campaign – played a pivotal and personal part in his run for the White House.

Now, those responders who helped him in the immediate aftermath are being given a special role at Monday's inauguration, featured as the first group to walk in the Inauguration Day parade following a contingent from the U.S. Army.

The group, consisting of Pennsylvania State and local Police, County Sheriffs, Emergency Services Unit/SWAT Team, Fire/Rescue, EMS, 911 Radio Dispatch, Hospital personnel, will march together to honor the memory of their fellow Butler County resident and community First Responder, the late Corey Comperatore.

Comperatore, a 10-year U.S. Army Reserve veteran and Past Fire Chief of the Buffalo Township, was killed during the assassination attempt while shielding his family from the gunfire.

On July 13, 2024, Butler County response teams initially treated over 250 heat-stricken spectators ahead of an open field rally at Butler Farm Show Grounds.

Later that day, several first responders heroically leaped into action after gunshots struck then-candidate Trump, and Trump supporters Corey Comperatore, David Dutch and James Copenhagen, and treated these and their other patients, while still in the line of fire.

The Butler County parade formation will be led by the Pennsylvania State Police Honor Guard.

"We are forever changed by the devastating loss of our fellow first responder Corey Comperatore. We remember past Fire Chief Comperatore today and forever, as we honor others, including President Trump, David Dutch and James Copenhaver who survived this murderous attack," Butler County First Responders said in a statement.

"We hope all Americans will pause today to remember the bravery and sacrifice of their own first responders and police, the expertise of their 911 dispatchers, and the skill of their local hospital emergency and medical staff and emergency management agencies."

Trump returned to the site in October, suggesting he had "an obligation" to do so.

"This field is now a monument to the valor of our first responders, to the resilience of our fellow citizens, and to the sacrifice of a loving and devoted father, a really great man," Trump said during his return rally.

"All who have visited this hallowed place will remember what happened here, and they will know of the character and courage that so many incredible American patriots have shown and know, and they know it at a level never seen before," he said.

The special honor for the Butler first responders comes after, during his first inaugural in 2017, Trump's parade also highlighted police and military personnel with a representative from every branch of the military joining him.

However, Trump's second inaugural parade could look different as officials warn of a heightened general security threat -- on top of increased security for him personally in the wake of the two assassination attempts on his life during the campaign.

"Threat actors with election-related grievances likely view the Inauguration as their last opportunity to influence the election results through violence. The motives of some recent assailants are not entirely coherent or remain unknown, highlighting the difficulty in predicting lone offender violence," officials warned in a joint threat assessment obtained by ABC News.

The decision on whether to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue, and for how long, has usually been left up to the discretion of the incoming president along with input from the Secret Service.

In 2017, Trump, along with his wife Melania and youngest son Barron, got out of their motorcade and walked a short distance during two different moments of the parade: near what was then the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue and then again from the Treasury Department into the White House.