Trump Shooting Has Connections to PackagingTrump Shooting Has Connections to Packaging

The July 13 assassination attempt of former US President Donald J. Trump at a political rally at the Butler Farm Show Grounds in Butler, PA, tragically left two people dead: a rally attendee and the shooter. Two more were injured, and Trump said he was shot in the right ear.

As details continue to emerge, Packaging Digest noticed multiple connections to our industry.

Trump shooter set up on packaging equipment plant.

A local young man, Thomas Matthew Crooks, shot at Trump from and was killed by Secret Service sniper fire on the rooftop of a building next to the rally, identified as AGR International. A leading provider of testing and automation equipment for use in packaging, the company’s headquarters are in Butler, at 615 Whitestown Road.

Packaging Digest made several calls to this facility. All were answered with a short, recorded message saying, “Thank you for calling AGR International. We are temporarily closed.”

In March 2024, AGR International was acquired by Indicor LLC, an industrial company “providing specialized, mission-critical technologies to customers across a variety of niche markets,” according to Indicor’s website. Emails by Packaging Digest to both AGR International and its parent company have not yet received a response.

Not much is known yet about how Crooks was able to gain access to the rooftop, but an FBI investigation of the incident is ongoing.

NBC News did get a few details about the company during an interview with Butler County District Attorney Richard A. Goldinger:

Trump rally shooting victims had packaging ties.

The spectator killed was Corey Comperatore, a project and tooling engineer at JSP, a plastics manufacturing company serving a variety of markets, including food packaging and packaging. According to his LinkedIn profile, Comperatore worked at JSP for 29 years, 18 of those as maintenance supervisor.

A GoFundMe to support the Comperatore family was set up Sunday and had raised more than $1 million from more than 18 thousand donors by late afternoon on Monday, July 15.

One of the rally attendees injured during the shooting was David Dutch, 57, who is now reportedly in stable condition (as well as the other man who was wounded, James Copenhaver, 74).

According to his LinkedIn profile, Dutch is an electromechanical technician at the Siemens facility in New Kensington, PA, a town about 31 miles from the Butler Farm Show Grounds, the site of the rally. Siemens is a global innovator focusing on digitalization, electrification, and automation for the process and manufacturing industries, and is a leader in power generation and distribution, intelligent infrastructure, and distributed energy systems. The company produces drives, motion-control, and automation products used in packaging machinery.

Location of Trump assassination attempt has strong manufacturing roots.

Butler, PA, has been an industrial center since the 18th century. In the early 1940s, the Butler-based American Bantam Car Co. unveiled the prototype for Bantam Reconnaissance Car, later known as a “jeep.” Today, manufacturers still make up a number of Butler County’s biggest employers.

Packaging is part of the manufacturing community and is massive itself. In 2024, the US packaging market is estimated to be $200.98 billion. Still, it’s surprising that there are several connections to packaging during this event.