One of the many things to come out of Donald Trump’s Butler rally is the image of the former president, bloodied and defiant, with his fist in the air after an assassination attempt, and the symbol of the nation unfurled in the sky behind him.
The American flag that served as a backdrop for the former president was held aloft by two long-boom cranes donated for the event by Mitchel DeLullo, 31, a Butler County small business owner.
Since the shooting, Mr. DeLullo has been unable to retrieve the cranes because they are in the middle of one of the most scrutinized crime scenes on the planet.
He has lost about $50,000 of business as a result.
The losses have been exacerbated, he said, by muddled communication from those in control of the site.
Mr. DeLullo has owned and operated Priority Crane Rentals in Prospect, Butler County, since 2021. Late last week, he was contacted by a company affiliated with the Butler rally in search of forklifts for the event. Mr. DeLullo instead enthusiastically offered to donate his two best cranes to “hang a real big flag” in support of Trump.
Mr. DeLullo, who grew up hunting and fishing in Elk County, sat three rows behind Trump during Saturday’s rally and immediately recognized the sound of gunshots from a nearby building.
“It felt like a lifetime after that first shot … the world kind of stopped,” he said. “As soon as the shots started ringing out, that’s when my wife got down; I laid on her back, and we just started praying.”
After Trump was evacuated, Mr. DeLullo said he was approached by a state trooper and FBI agents who told him they believed his cranes had been struck by bullets. Authorities eventually determined the cranes had not been damaged, but they remained on site because of the investigation.
And the days began to pass.
And Mr. DeLullo had to begin canceling scheduled jobs where the million-dollar cranes were required.
The loss of paid work, he said, makes meeting payments on the equipment that much tighter.
Mr. DeLullo said he and his employees spoke with state police and FBI Supervisory Special Agent Richard Marx over the next several days to get updates on the situation, hoping to remove the cranes as soon as possible.
Mr. DeLullo said that in at least two instances officials told him he could enter the site only to deny him access soon after.
Early Wednesday morning, Mr. DeLullo said, Mr. Marx emailed the company to say the two cranes would likely remain on site for several more days. Mr. DeLullo canceled another week of jobs, then Mr. Marx reversed his decision later that afternoon.
Mr. DeLullo said the idled cranes have cost him a conservatively estimated $48,000.
“With two cranes out of four — those being my main income source — that’s a hard hit on somebody who is only in their third year [of business],” he said.
Even after Mr. DeLullo’s team was cleared to remove the cranes, he said they had to wait some more before entering the site because they didn’t have an FBI escort, which he said no one had told him they needed.
Mr. DeLullo said he has received well-wishes and donation offers from as far away as Alaska in the wake of the rally. Despite his financial losses, Mr. DeLullo said he was proud to have supported Trump so prominently.
“Even if this whole ordeal were to put me out of business, I would do it again,” he said. “I believe in Trump.”
First Published: July 18, 2024, 9:55 p.m.
Updated: July 19, 2024, 7:51 p.m.
