1. David Jake Dutch’s Beginnings And Two Shots That Changed Everything (The Second Surviving Victim)
Throughout this thread as well as others, Mr. Comperatore and his heroic actions were mentioned in full. Specifically, I had written a short summary of his life and his tragic end here:
https://kiwifarms.st/threads/steven-bonnell-ii-destiny-destiny-gg.29205/page-703
Corey Comperatore had shielded his daughter and wife from bullets by the shooter. Despite knowing that the cost of his actions could lead to his death, Corey still decided his life’s end was worth it rather than seeing his family being killed. While Mr. Comperatore’s actions are documented in full, the other victims are barely mentioned. This is why I feel it is equally important to go over the other victims’ lives, and what they went through on July 13, 2024. Today, I will be going over the life of David Jake Dutch. Mr. Dutch (who likes to go by Jake) is a disabled veteran Pennsylvanian from the city of New Kensington. Similar to Corey Comperatore, he had always believed in helping his community, and always put others before himself. David Jake Dutch was born on June 3, 1961 with a loving family.
He has an extremely strong Christian faith posting routinely on Facebook about his love of Jesus Christ and reciting Bible verses. Mr. Dutch also has 4 siblings (an older brother and a youth brother, and two sisters). Not much is known about the high school, he attended or the jobs he partook in after. However, what is known that he was/is (unknown of the current status) married to Sherrie Lynn and later in life served in the United States Marine Corps. During his time in the Marine Corp, the marine veteran served in Desert Storm. For those unfamiliar with Desert Storm, or generally the Iraq War, I will explain what it is, and how it pertains to Desert Storm.
When military forces in Iraq had invaded Kuwait on 1990, the U.S Marine Corp Aviation went to war deploying over 40 squadrons to the Persian Gulf in order to participate in two operations specifically Operation Desert Shield (where a coalition of 35 nations led by the United States built up their troops) and Operation Desert Storm dubbed “the combat phrase of the Coalition’s campaign to liberate Kuwait.” Over 147 U.S personnel during these two operations were killed, and 1,000 coalition troops were wounded. In the Iraq War’s entirely over 7,000 soldiers were killed. David Jake Dutch during these dangerous times had fought for his country, and despite everything remained a patriot. Mr. Dutch continued to do work in the community including setting up a fundraiser in June 2018 for Leek Hunting and Mountain Preserve Inc.
The Leek Hunting and Mountain Preserve Inc is a certified 501(c) non-profit whose mission is to try aiding the rehabilitation of disabled veterans giving them outdoor facilities as well as land to do hunting, and fishing opportunities. David Jake Dutch is also passionate about animal rights consistently fighting not only for veterans, but animals such as dogs who may face abuse. He mainly posts petitions to better the lives of dogs in shelters, and this makes sense as he used to own his own dog who sadly passed on November 15, 2018. Later on in life, Mr. Dutch became the leader of the Marine Corps League (an advocacy organization for veterans) in his local chapter. Moreover, he has been working at Siemens for decades including presently.
2. The Two Bullets And The Impact
On July 13, 2024 was the day that everything changed for David Jake Dutch. It was a very typical Trump rally with friendly vendors, and chants of MAGA, and hope filled the air. Mr. Dutch was one of the many thousands of the people at the rally, but as we already know this rally turned deadly due to an assassination attempt on the former President Donald J. Trump’s life. The bullets that were supposed to hit the intended target ended up hitting three innocent bystanders. One of whom named Corey Comperatore had died from while the two survivors specifically one being David Jake Dutch was hit by two bullets (one in the lover and chest).
Friends of Mr. Dutch believe that similarly to Corey, David had tried protecting others from the bullets resulting in him getting hit. Thankfully, he had survived, but was severely injured, and had surgery on Sunday Morning. During these moments, David Jake Dutch was put in an induced coma, and in critical condition. This man had a wife, and a family mainly brothers and sisters. It is horrifying to imagine that this could have been someone we knew, and that is why empathy is so important. Thankfully, Mr. Dutch is now in stable (still in critical condition, but slowly doing better), and his sister set up a go fund me. The horrible things that Destiny has said praising the shooter and mocking the violence that the victims had to face may not faze someone who may not know the fuller context of the lives and contributions the victims of these events made to the world. That is why it is important to share their stories to humanize them, and start conversation.
3. Sources
https://archive.is/5Ljxo - NYT article
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-dave-dutch-heal-after-rally-incident - GFM set up by coworker of David
https://amp.marca.com/en/lifestyle/us-news/2024/07/15/6694ed9222601d38698b45a5.html - another article
4. Archives
https://archive.is/5Ljxo
https://ghostarchive.org/archive/c7FAr
https://ghostarchive.org/archive/9Pswe
5. Edit
The final victim which I will write about tomorrow is James Copenhaver who is 74 years old, and a registered democrat. His upbringing, and the events that unfolded on July 13 will be addressed.