'How Could This Happen?': Melanie Stansbury Slams Cheatle Over 'Completely Unsatisfactory' Answers

last year

During a House Oversight Committee hearing on Monday, Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) spoke about the shooting of former President Trump.

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00:00do this earlier. I'd like to have unanimous consent that it be submitted for the record.

00:05The 2023 ranking of best and worst workplaces in the federal government,

00:13compiled by the Office of Personal Management, which shows the United States Secret Service

00:19coming in again, as I said earlier, 413th out of 459 sub-agencies, and this appears in the

00:27July 17th edition of Government Executive. Without objection to order. Chair now recognizes

00:33Ms. Stansberry from New Mexico. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You know, I want to start by just

00:39saying that part of why you have bipartisan agreement here on the dais about the severity

00:46and importance of this hearing is because this is not just a single shooting. This is about

00:52national security and the security of our democracy. It's not just one operational failure.

00:58This is about are our public officials safe and what does that signal to our country and to the

01:05world about American security and the ability of our officials to do their jobs safely.

01:11So I want to start by saying thank you to all of our brave men and women who are in the uniform,

01:16whether it's the Secret Service or local law enforcement who put their lives on the line.

01:21I think obviously we honor their service, but this is really about operational failures and

01:26what it means for our country at large. And I also want to reaffirm that we must condemn

01:33unequivocally political violence of any kind, violence of any kind, not just political violence,

01:39and that it cannot be tolerated in this democracy. And also to offer my prayers for the slain

01:46Fire Chief Correa Comprador and also prayers for those who've been injured. Now I think,

01:53you know, the tone of this hearing is how is it that a 20-year-old young man

02:00with a gun that was legally purchased by his father could, on the day of a rally, go to a gun

02:08shop, legally purchase ammunition, show up to a secured site, and then not only attempt an

02:15assassination of a political figure but kill and injure two others? How could this happen?

02:23I'm not asking yet. I think we've had a lot of testimony here today.

02:29I want to talk a little bit about the timeline. Now here's what we know, and I know, Director,

02:34you were also on the call that we had a few days ago with the FBI and other law enforcement. So

02:40I respect that you are not able to share, based on your testimony, some of the details that are

02:46currently being investigated. But I know you were on the call because I heard you on the call,

02:50and you heard them too. So I'm going to lay out the timeline a little bit. On July 3rd,

02:54the rally was announced that it was going to be in Butler. On July 6th, three days later,

03:00we know that the shooter searched for dates for Trump and DNC events. On July 7th,

03:08so this is four days after the announcement, the shooter went to the site. He actually physically

03:14went to the site. On July 12th, the shooter went to a gun range where he and his dad regularly go

03:21and practiced shooting. And the next day, on July 13th, he went to the site again before the rally

03:30began. We know that he then went and searched online for a gun store where he went and he

03:36purchased 50 rounds of ammunition, went home, got his father's AR, which was legally purchased,

03:46and returned to the venue. At 5 p.m. that evening, this is more than an hour before Donald Trump

03:54actually took the stage that evening. Local law enforcement were made aware that there was a

04:02suspicious man. In fact, at 520, local law enforcement flagged that he had a rangefinder,

04:09and they radioed their concerns and sent around pictures of the individual. At 540, 20 minutes

04:17before local law enforcement actually identified the shooter. And at 551, Secret Service was

04:26notified of the suspicious person by the state police. And one minute later, they distributed

04:32that information. That was before Donald Trump even took the stage. That was 11 minutes before

04:37he took the stage. So the Secret Service was aware that there was a suspicious person. At 603, he took

04:43the stage. At 609, rally goers, as was shown in the video, identified this gentleman climbing on the

04:50roof. At 611, three shots were heard, three rounds of shots, and of course, the president and the

04:58other victims were shot. This shooter was a 20-year-old young man, no criminal record, legally

05:08purchased gun and ammunition, who for days in the lead-up to this shooting was searching mass

05:14shooters. He even had a picture of a mass shooter on his cell phone the day of the shooting. He

05:21searched for explosives. He searched high-level officials. So the American people want to know

05:29how did a 20-year-old young man with access to a military-style weapon actually bring it

05:35on to an unsecured perimeter, who for days had been planning a mass shooting event. And I think

05:42that, Madam Director, with all due respect, the answers that we've received here in this hearing

05:48today are completely unsatisfactory. How could this happen?

05:59We need answers. We need answers not just for the family members of the gentleman who was killed

06:08and those who were injured, but we need answers for our democracy. Because as others have stated

06:15here today, we are in a highly politically charged environment right now. We are only weeks away from

06:22one of the most significant presidential elections in American history, and it is clear that our public

06:29official's safety has not been secured. And it is not just a matter of one shooting, it is a matter

06:36of national security. So I hope that you will take our comments to heart. I hope that there will be

06:43accountability, and we need answers. And with that, I yield back.

06:51Absolutely. Chair now recognizes Mr. LaTurner from Kansas. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

'How Could This Happen?': Melanie Stansbury Slams Cheatle Over 'Completely Unsatisfactory' Answers

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