Corey Comperatore, the husband, father, and firefighter killed by former President Donald Trump’s would-be assassin last Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, was laid to rest on Friday.
Photos and videos show Comperatore’s casket leaving Cabot United Methodist Church, draped in the American flag. According to the New York Post, eight firefighters carried the casket out. Comperatore was killed that day, shielding his family from the bullets raining down on them.
“He’s my hero,” his widow, Helen Comperatore told The Post. “He just said, ‘Get down!’ That was the last thing he said.”
Comperatore’s daughter also said her father died a hero.
“They are not going to tell you how quickly he threw my mom and I to the ground. They are not going to tell you that he shielded my body from the bullet that came at us,” she wrote. “He loved his family. He truly loved us enough to take a real bullet for us.”
Former President Donald Trump honored Comperatore during his speech at the Republican National Convention Thursday evening, as the firefighter’s uniform was rolled out onto the stage. Trump went over and kissed the helmet in a moving moment.
“He was a highly respected former fire chief, respected by everybody,” Trump said. “He was accompanied by his wife, Helen. An incredible woman I spoke to today. Devastated. And two precious daughters. He lost his life selfishly acting as a human shield to protect them from flying bullets. He went right over the top of them and was hit. What a fine man he was.”
Trump also cited the scripture John 15:13: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friend.”
Previously reports indicated that Trump planned to attend the funeral of Comperatore, but according to NBC Philadelphia, “Trump is not going to the funeral because of Secret Service concerns, according to a source familiar who was not authorized to speak publicly.”