Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport board to hear about ‘possibility’ of Trump rally in October
The Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport authority at a Thursday, Sept. 12 meeting will discuss if the Penn Township venue could be used for former president Donald Trump’s planned return to Butler County.
An agenda posted to the airport’s website indicates the airport was contacted by Sheriff Mike Slupe about potentially holding a Donald Trump campaign rally at the Penn Township location in October. The agenda indicates the airport’s board of directors will hear about Slupe’s inquiry and discuss the potential, “if an official request is received.”
“It’s a question came in after the August board meeting,” airport manager Stephanie Saracco said. ““Until or unless a formal request is made we have no idea. We don’t even know if a formal request will be made.”
At a meeting on Thursday evening, the board tabled any motion on a Donald Trump campaign rally because the directors had not received any formal requests or dates from the Trump campaign.
As is the case in all events at the airport, Saracco said any future at the location would be dependent on a board decision.
In a July 17 interview, Mike Walsh, chairman of the Butler County Airport Authority in Penn Township, said the Trump campaign had contacted the airport about a month-and-a-half ago prior to the July 13 rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds, which ended abruptly when shots were fired.
During the July rally, a Buffalo Township man, Corey Comperatore, died protecting his family, two others were critically injured and Trump was grazed by a bullet. The gunman was killed, stopping the gunfire that rang out across the crowded Connoquenessing Township venue.
Trump had previously appeared at the local airport, 473 Airport Road, for a rally on Oct. 31, 2020.
“If they are to be used, it would be an agreement with the campaign,” Slupe said.
Walsh, in the July interview, said the 2020 rally had been well-organized, but the airport declined the more recent request, as the Penn Township Volunteer Fire Company’s annual Mega Cruise was scheduled on July 13.
