McCaul Presses PA Law Enforcement On Trump Rally Shooter: He Had A ‘Clear Shot Of The President’

2 months ago

On Tuesday, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) questioned Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Officials on the position of the shooter at the Trump Rally in Butler.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00The gentleman yields. I now recognize Chairman McCaul for five minutes of questioning.

00:04Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you for the site visit

00:08that we had at Butler, Pennsylvania yesterday. It was very eye-opening, educational.

00:15I agree with the Ranking Member's comments in terms of, you know, after 9-11, connecting the dots

00:25in federal, state, and local. Working together was the answer. I led a joint terrorism task force

00:32when I worked at the Department of Justice, and I also was involved in national security events,

00:37so I kind of know how these things operate. My question is to Colonel Parris.

00:45It's standard practice that the lead federal agency will come in and meet with the state and

00:50locals regarding the security plan before the event, prior to the event.

00:56Sir, did you participate, or did your department participate in that?

01:01So, I did not participate. As I stated earlier, there were two commanders dedicated to those

01:09two primary roles, the motorcade and the staffing of the posts on site within the secure perimeter,

01:16as well as a state police area commander. So, just as a way of background, our area commander

01:21that covers multiple troops in that area of the state, out of nearly 5,000 troopers, there are

01:27only four area commanders. So, that major was present for the walkthrough on the 11th.

01:33And were your troopers assigned inside the perimeter or outside?

01:37Inside, sir.

01:38Inside, and was the outside within the jurisdiction of the local police?

01:42So, just as a point of clarification, there were two, on the operations plan, there were two

01:47marked cars that were assigned roving duties, which would primarily, as the name implies,

01:52be outside of the secure perimeter on roadways, responding to incidents that

01:56potentially could occur as a result of a congregation of that many people.

02:00So, we saw, we walked into, we actually walked onto the roof where the sniper was.

02:06A clear eyes-on, clear shot of the president. A tree blocked the Secret Service's view.

02:15This kid did some investigation. He had a drone out there days prior,

02:20got an aerial surveillance of the premises, and that position was probably the best position

02:27outside the perimeter, as far as I could tell. There was also a water tower.

02:32That would have been a perfect spot for Secret Service.

02:35Were you aware of any presence of Secret Service in this water tower?

02:38I was not.

02:40And you're aware of what I'm talking about?

02:42I am familiar. I physically flew out there on Saturday the 13th.

02:47It was still very much an active crime scene, so I did not walk the roofs, but I did.

02:51On the adjacent building, we got a tour of that as well,

02:55where I believe the local police were positioned.

02:59There were three windows. The first one had a plain view of where the sniper would be.

03:04However, they were stationed in the second and third windows.

03:08Are you familiar with this at all?

03:09I am not, from the standpoint that I have not seen the Secret Service's operations plan,

03:15and our deference would be to them to assign Butler ESU, according to them.

03:20They were apparently local counter-snipers.

03:23Uh, do you know if they should have been assigned to the rooftop?

03:29I would defer to the, there are many ways that you can cover.

03:33Obviously, positioning people on the rooftop would be one of those.

03:37No, and I, you know, going to the actual site, way too close.

03:42He should never have been allowed to get on top of that building,

03:45and I don't know how, and I know he's on your radar inside the perimeter.

03:50You seem to have lost him, and somehow he finds his way up to the rooftop

03:56unimpeded until a local law enforcement officer crawls on top of the roof and looks at him,

04:03and he points his AR-15 at him.

04:05My question to you is, do you, what was the communication like that day?

04:09Typically, Secret Service has one channel for them, the other channel for state and locals.

04:14Was there any communication to identify, hey, this is not a local

04:19police officer, this is, in fact, an unidentified individual on the rooftop.

04:24Was that communicated to the Secret Service?

04:26So, my belief, as I sit here today, is that we did have integrated communications from members

04:33that were inside of the Secret Service command post.

04:36Completely deferential to the ongoing nature of the investigation.

04:41I have an understanding of a sequence of events, but I would like to draw a distinction between

04:47a sequence of events, meaning...

04:48So, my theory is that they thought maybe he was an officer, but then they find out he's not.

04:54The thing I find interesting is that the counter-sniper Secret Service,

04:59within seconds of the shots on the president, kills a suspect.

05:03That tells me he had him in his sights.

05:06Maybe he's not aware of who the individual was, was not identified,

05:09but I know within seconds after the shots were fired at the president, the threat was eliminated.

05:17You know, lastly, I just want to end with this.

05:20This was actually astonishing, and I want to get your confirmation.

05:25He had a detonation device with him, and two of his bombs were located in his car

05:33that was parked on the other side of the perimeter.

05:37Seems to me a good theory would be that he was going to kill the president

05:42and then detonate his car, causing a diversion, and then escape from the crime scene.

05:48Are you aware of any of this?

05:49I am aware of the presence of the device on his person.

05:53We were aware of that very early on, and that was a serious tactical consideration

05:59in the hours, in the immediate aftermath, as we worked that crime scene.

06:04But to your point about his ultimate theory,

06:07or what his ultimate motivation was, that remains under investigation.

06:11And he had a rangefinder on him as well.

06:13That's a big red flag.

06:14I yield back.

06:16Gentleman yields.

06:18I now recognize the gentleman from California.

McCaul Presses PA Law Enforcement On Trump Rally Shooter: He Had A ‘Clear Shot Of The President’

Category

Transcript

Recommended