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July 23, 2024 - Fresh & Fit
01:43:12
EMERGENCY BROADCAST: USSS Director Cheatle resigns & Police Testimony on Trump Assassination
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Time Text
Time killed 33 people.
Zodiac Killer is a pseudonym of an unidentified serial killer who operated in Northern California.
The serial killers got...
Yeah, I mean, I told you guys she was incompetent from the beginning.
I mean, I told you guys I was incompetent.
Thank you.
Yo.
Yo.
Thank you.
Thank you.
He's irresponsible.
But if you can see the difference, you're debating something that he's not even said.
Go ahead, Myron.
Clarify if I'm wrong.
Myron.
Uh...
Hello?
My bad.
My bad.
My bad, Suleiman.
I'm just doing a little technical thing right now.
Just give me 30 seconds.
Yeah, yeah.
No worries.
Suleiman.
Go ahead, Confluence.
Yeah, so I understand your point and that's not specifically what I was asking.
I'm just taking a question at the presupposition that it was only one person acting and that these are standard operating procedures.
What do you mean one person acting?
A lone gunman.
No one said that.
No one said that.
So why are you debating an issue?
You can debate that issue, for sure.
Put it on the table.
There'll be many people who want to debate you on that, but that's not what he's saying.
This is the bit that I don't get.
Confluence is here to just argue, guys.
Just like, watch out.
Hopefully it doesn't crash.
But anyway.
So, what's your argument?
Because that's not his argument.
So, you're debating an issue he's not even made.
That's probably why he's getting annoyed.
Because you're not arguing the actual specific point he said.
So, Lone Gunman...
Like, you can hold the position that it wasn't a Lone Gunman, which is kind of the position I'm definitely going...
I'm more believing at the moment.
But at the same time, you can also believe...
That when it comes to Cheadle, this is definitely the Maida the Fall guy.
I believe that.
And you can also believe at the same time that she maybe didn't know the specifics in that day, unless she is directly involved in the attempted assassination.
And you could also believe that she doesn't know the specific details about the time and events since the FBI has taken over all the investigation.
Those things are not mutually exclusive.
Yes, agreed.
And to clarify, my point was not specific to her testimony yesterday, for which it's been well documented reasons for cul-de-sacs of truth or not being forthcoming with information.
To go against one of those points, you said information that she wouldn't have access to.
A lot of the questions are around things that she was directly told.
And I know Myron has said third-party rule.
We could go back to that.
I understand it.
But it still doesn't quell concerns of the people on the outside, right?
No one denied that.
Of course, the people still have questions because after yesterday's hearing, We've got questions.
And even Myron is saying, after tomorrow's hearing, people are still going to have questions because the FBI is not going to give any answers.
But continue.
So also, yes, my second point was not specific only to her testimony, for which we've discussed at length, and I understand the points I've shared.
What's up, Chad?
I'm in here.
Can you guys hear me?
I may have misunderstood something that he used in a hypothetical as things are looked at currently positioned as opposed to his whole personal contention.
And Myron, you don't even have to feel free to, or you don't even feel compelled to answer this if you don't wish.
It's just that in his discussion now and previous, I've heard no possibility for something more than a lone gunman.
And I was asking more about his personal position, not as a function of the testimony, which has been discussed.
Okay, so you weren't very clear on that?
Because actually, Myron immediately, when he came on the space the very first time, said that both, this was before, as soon as something happened, he said both are available.
I'm not going to put words in his mouth.
Let's go to Myron.
So yeah, what's your question again, Confluence?
What's your specific question again?
So just to be clear, because his contention isn't all of the things that we thought it was.
His contention is just that he believes that you believe that this was definitely just a lone gunman and there was nothing more nefarious at play.
And it could be that I misunderstood your expression as running the current scenarios as the information is shared publicly.
And if that's the position, I didn't mean to infer your personal state on that.
What I'm saying is, when it comes to this gunman thing, from the information that I have, and the information that has been put out, to me it looks like one gunman.
However, am I open to other theories of a second potential gunman?
Of course.
But right now, just from what we have, it looks like there's a solo gunman.
It was just a single gunman.
Obviously the case is developing rapidly.
We might find out other co-conspirators.
We don't know that yet because the FBI isn't even really like two to three weeks in.
Great, and then, oh yeah, continue.
No, that's it.
On a communication strategy point, if there's this overwhelming groundswell, like we had after JFK... And Confluence, just on that, because let's not skip, right?
So, in terms of it being more than one Goodman, what's your position that it definitely was to more than one Goodman, or what's your position?
Not necessarily, but I think with weighing all of the potentials and the likelihoods, I think we can't disguise that potential.
So one second, let's take this one at a time.
So you're in agreement because basically, even my position is that, look, what we do know that there was possibly 8 to 10 shots fired.
We know that only one of those shots was fired by the Secret Service.
Means the other shots were fired by...
Whomever one considers the adversary or the...
There was one miss also, Suli.
One miss by a local CS team of the two CS teams and then there was two Secret Service CS teams, one of which had a direct hit through the trees.
Bongino calls it a one-in-a-million shot.
Okay, so I haven't heard about the second shot.
Okay, let's check that.
The second bullet was also.
So it means there's at least seven...
CNN reported.
Okay, that's fine.
The sixth, because in the hearing, I believe they only said it was only one.
So, okay, this is the thingy.
In yesterday's hearing, as well as a couple of the places, they only said that there was only one shot fired from this side.
Okay, that's fine.
Means there's possibly seven to eight shots that have been fired from either the lone goodman or a second goodman.
Now, we can't know, and this is what we've, I mean, this is what Myron's in.
This is my position as well, but Myron can clarify if it's not his position.
So, Yeah, I'm going to explain this to you guys here in a second.
But we don't know if all them shots came from just Thomas Crooks because the problem is we've got no information about the types of bullets that were fired.
We don't know the angles.
We don't know where they came from.
We don't know how they were hit.
What we do know is after three or four, around about three or four bullets, that's when Donald Trump ducks roughly.
So again, like, so for me, it's like, it looks, we just can't discard either possibility.
But Myron, let me go to you.
What's your thoughts on that?
Yeah, so my thoughts on that are, you know, for intimate details as far as like the bullets, trajectory, line of sight, etc.
That's all going to be with the FBI. It's all going to be with the FBI. Secret Service isn't going to have any of that, which is, again, why Cheadle was so reluctant to answer questions when it came to that stuff.
Anything that was like involved with the criminal investigation, she didn't really have information on because she's not privy to it.
So Myron, you have an outside pressure of citizen investigations, and not to say that, of course, they're privy to the same access, but available intel and all sorts of cagey, anon researchers can get to some interesting information.
And with this, the court of public opinion building so quickly and with no crime more interested by the greater earth and human history.
This is something that needs to be competed with from a communication strategy standpoint.
And the fact that every move has been so opaque, and you gave great reasons and spoke to the testimony yesterday, there's still more that can be done that hasn't been done, that this is a catastrophic failure.
Just as the one in decades failure that you mentioned yesterday, this is a one in decades communication failure on the back of that.
And that compounded with the failures and the person that happened to be in the place to take advantage, Point to something or many questions that need to be answered.
And the fact that they aren't quelling this in any of their outward presentations, even a very limited press conference, where they get to see a face, they get to talk to a person, questions can be fielded.
Sorry, that's in an investigation.
Oh, this?
Sure, we can share that with you.
None of that's happened.
So what's your point?
Is your point that basically because they're not giving this information to the public, more people are going to...
The conspiracies or the speculation or even the invest...
The citizen investigation is just going to run rampant.
Is that your argument?
And that yes, when you have this degree of...
Yeah, no one disagrees with that again.
Maren, go ahead.
Let Maren answer because I... Go ahead, Maren.
Bro, like...
Oh, man.
Go ahead.
Just finish your statement and then I'll...
Let me ask you a question, right?
Because I think I just, like, I want to make this interesting.
So, in terms of, you've explained, like, in terms of the possibility of being one or two goodmen, I think the greater question from this is, for me, irrespective of whether there's one goodman or two goodmen, is whether there was, this was one guy who lost his mind and did what he did, or whether there was something more nefarious at play.
Now, one of the reports that came out was that Allegedly, he had three encrypted overseas bank accounts, Maren.
Now, the question about that is, A, who would have found that out within the investigation process?
And B, why was that leaked?
Because, and I'll explain to you the reason why I'm asking that question.
It's all FBI. That's going to be FBI. They probably did a grand jury subpoena, found his bank accounts.
And a grand jury subpoena, guys, by the way, is how you...
It's the best way to get bank accounts because when you do a grand jury subpoena, the bank doesn't have to notify the person that's holding the account that the government did a subpoena on your stuff.
So that's the best way to get financial records.
So that's how they were probably able to find that.
And just in addition to that...
It was leaked, right?
So you're saying that was the FBI who leaked it?
And then the second question is...
I mean, my theory is this, that if this was someone like China, if his overseas account was like China, Russia, Iran, this would have been all over the news.
The fact that it's not all over the news, again, question marks which foreign nation he had these bank accounts.
And if they did find it, they'd make it classified immediately.
They wouldn't even...
If they found a link between him and foreign intelligence or an adversarial country, I don't know if they would make that public right now.
They would probably classify it immediately and make that, you know, not something out for the public.
Confluence, any of the questions?
And then I want to go to Lindsay.
No, not at the moment.
Let's go to Lindsay.
Go ahead, Lindsay.
That Confluence guy is a fucking idiot.
Holy shit.
So annoying.
It was just interesting hearing that there was somebody...
Are you breaking up, Lindsay?
I can't see...
I can't hear what she's saying.
Yeah, she's breaking up.
Lindsay, you're breaking up significantly.
Yeah, I can see y'all.
Yeah, you're breaking up.
Okay.
Okay.
Lindsay, I'm just going to drop you down and bring you back up if you can sort your headset out because it's breaking up in a significant manner.
I'm just going to do that.
There we go.
Right, so...
We're going to be wrapping up soon, but just before we do, Myron, from your perspective then, so the FBI has taken over this investigation, does that mean that we're never going to find out any information, not only wherever they decide to trickle down to us?
Yeah, they're not going to, yeah.
Until they get like, either they conclude that there was no other conspirators or they have someone else in custody, they're probably not going to give that much information.
The only time FBI shares a good amount of information is when they need the public's help to find somebody.
That's typically when they release the most information.
Lev, any last comments?
Because we're about to wrap up.
Okay, Lindsay, jump in.
Lev, any last comments?
I've been having such crazy difficulty with the Any last comments?
I've been having such crazy I'm gonna break this down for you guys here in a second.
You hear me?
Yeah, we can hear you.
Okay.
I don't know why, but I've been getting dropped.
Today, the technical issues have been crazy.
Listen, at the end of the day, it is what it is.
We're going to have to wait and we're going to have to get more information.
I think the one thing that we are finding and realizing is that we're not going to get it from the Secret Service.
Hopefully, we'll see what happens with the FBI hearings.
I'm very, you know, excited to come to your space tonight, Sully, at 7 o'clock.
I'm sure there's going to be a lot of fireworks and a lot of crazy conspiracy theories.
So, anybody that wants to have some fun but not get any real information, come tonight at 7 o'clock.
Oh my God, lad, don't say that.
It's the real information.
Don't be the mainstream media propaganda piece.
Confluence, attack him.
I know, Lev.
Come on.
We know the line you're here to hold, and just be thankful you always get the seat from which to hold it.
It'll be interesting to see your takes on things in there, and it's just not adding up.
And in general, Myron, if I misunderstood your theorized position from current available info, as opposed to a position that you hold, Closer to your chest or your personal opinion.
I'd love you to come to Suli's space tonight There will be an interesting discussion and you guys all rock and thank you for bringing the clarity Suli I don't think you always had me pegged but and also one last point and hopefully we can discuss this later It's hard to say who the final Parties would be but it's pretty easy to see that there's something more to be looked into here.
So let's see.
Let's see Myron any last thoughts?
No, man.
I'm actually live on YouTube and Rumble right now if you guys want to come check me out.
I'm going to be reacting right now to the testimony.
Check me out on FedReacts.
I'm live right now on YouTube and on Rumble.
That's on Fresh and Fish channel, right?
Yeah, Fresh and Fish channel on Rumble, FedReacts on YouTube.
I'm live right now.
I'm going to be reacting to the congressional hearings right now.
They got the Butler police right now on.
But no, Sully, thank you for having me on.
I'm always happy to come.
Are you coming tonight, Myron?
Are you going to be on at 7?
I want to hear some of your conspiracy theories when you can let go.
I mean, if I'm awake, yeah.
Yeah, I still have a sleplet.
So, but yeah, definitely will if I'm awake.
But no, man, thank you for having me on.
It's always great talking to you guys.
Appreciate coming on, Maren.
As always, providing us with the detailed knowledge and information based on your background.
Appreciate you guys joining in.
Appreciate you guys listening.
And for sure, we will see you tonight, 7pm.
Awesome.
Later, guys.
Alright, so chat, real quick.
Right now, as you guys can see here, we got the congressional hearings going on, right, with the assassination.
Let's go ahead and go back a bit and rewind onto what I was talking about.
Bring you guys to the speed of what the hell is going on.
I apologize for the delay.
I was in a Twitter space.
We had 6,000 plus people in there.
So, I'm going to unmute this and we're going to react to it here in a second, but let me give you guys the stuff.
Give me ones in the chat if you guys can hear me good, and we'll break everything down.
I just want to make sure that the audio is good right now.
Give me ones if we're good.
Oh, what the fuck?
Oh, no.
Hold on.
Once?
Alright, sweet, sweet.
Sorry.
Hold on, guys.
I'm just fixing some technical stuff here, man.
Okay, so we got this here.
Boom.
Alright.
So, let's go over this Kim Cheadle thing real fast.
Alright?
And I literally tweeted about this.
Give me one sec.
Doing this show on the fly, guys.
Literally just still half asleep and the grind doesn't end though.
We're live on all the platforms.
Alright.
Okay.
Yeah, yeah.
I got the video muted, guys, by the way.
That's why you guys can't hear the video.
I'm going to be talking over it real quick.
So, before I do that, let me go ahead and pull up my tweet real fast.
Give me one sec.
Because we're going to go ahead and look at it.
Right.
Twitter.
Boom.
Alright.
Show you guys my little tweet because this explains it perfectly.
I tweeted this earlier today.
Give me one sec, guys.
I have it here somewhere.
Okay.
Here we go.
It was a waste of time to bring United States Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheadle in for questioning, though it was entertaining.
Let's be honest here.
This was a clip-forming hearing to punish someone for the security failure on July 13, 2024.
Here's why it was a waste of time.
Number one, she's incompetent.
Number two, they asked questions about the criminal case.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, has run the criminal investigation.
She's not privy to all the facts, nor does the FBI have to furnish it to her.
Nashville Castle Club.
Shout out to you my friend.
I'll give you a double down to Marco for that one bro.
Join the Council Club, man.
Join the Council Club, man.
I'm grinding over here for y'all because we love you guys.
Get in the Council Club, man, if you really want to support.
So thank you so much, brother.
Third, they asked questions about what happened on the ground on July 13, 2024.
She is the United States Secret Service director.
Directors are too far up in the chain to know or understand what's going on operationally.
The head of the Trump's detail is the only one that will know everything on that day and probably cleared the operation plan, which is key.
Four, they ask internal questions about firings within the U.S. Secret Service.
The Department of Homeland Security, DHS, OIG, Office of Inspector General, and maybe the United States Office of Professional Responsibility are running the internal investigation and OIG doesn't have to answer to Cheadle.
This hearing was the equivalent to you going to Chipotle and the cash register guy punches you and then you blame the Chipotle president and bring him in for questioning.
Though he's the head of Chipotle and it looks good and entertaining to publicly hold him accountable, he won't really know or have the answers for that employee punching you.
If you are actually serious about getting to the bottom of this, don't waste your time with Cheadle.
This is who you subpoena.
FBI Special Agent Charge Kevin P. Rojack for the criminal investigation for the United States Secret Service failure, the head of Trump's security detail, whoever signed off on the operation plan, and then for the internal investigation, DHS Inspector General Joseph Kofari or United States OPR Director David M. Smith, or preferably both.
And I was explaining that in the chat, and that's why I was getting this stupid fucking pushback from this guy that doesn't understand how the government works.
But anyway, I say all that.
Now let's get into the congressional hearing.
You see here that there's a, this is the colonel for the police department where this all went down.
Let's go ahead and put the volume on.
Witnesses, at any point, we're going to, Probably go at least another hour here.
If you need to take a break, just let me know and just give me the high sign or a thumbs up.
Y'all are okay right now, are you?
Yeah, we can take a break.
Take a break.
All right, we'll do five minutes and five minutes only.
The restroom's right down the hallway to your right.
Adjourned.
All right, I'm going to get a protein shake real quick.
Give me one second, guys.
And I'm going to come back and explain some stuff.
We'll rewind the testimony.
Thank you.
I was just having the same thought.
Alright, let's rewind some of the testimony.
Let's rewind it.
Join me in observing a moment of silence.
That was not the case here.
...violence in all its forms.
There simply is no place for it in our democracy.
The attempted assassination is in Pennsylvania.
Mr.
Kelly is permitted to sit on the dais and ask questions to the witnesses.
Serves as the president, national fraternal order of police.
In this role, Mr.
Yoles leads the order, and it's more than 367,000 law enforcement members and representing police officers and the profession.
Prior to taking his current role, Mr.
Yoles served an impressive 36 years as an active law enforcement officer.
I thank the witnesses for being here today, and I now recognize Colonel Parris.
Okay, so he brought his union rep, guys.
Obviously, when you're put under oath like that, you're going to bring your union rep.
...minutes to summarize his opening statement.
Chairman Green, Ranking Member Thompson, Homeland Security Committee members.
Good morning.
I am Colonel Christopher Parris, Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police.
I would like to take this opportunity to offer our condolences on the passing of Congresswoman Lee.
I would also like to take this opportunity to express our condolences to the Comparator family and offer our continued prayers to Mr.
Dutch, Mr.
Copenhaver, as well as former President Trump as they continue to recover.
I'm humbled to be here today and testify about a tragic incident which has deeply impacted the Butler community, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and our nation.
I would like to dedicate my testimony here today to the approximately 6,400 women and men, civilian and enlisted of the PSB, who work tirelessly for Pennsylvania, and it is my honor to lead them.
I'd like to offer a perspective that this is very much an ongoing, complex, and dynamic investigation.
And each day, as we arrive at day 10 today, I learn multiple new facts as we uncover new information as the investigation progresses.
I'd like to offer a point of clarification affirmatively about PSP's role.
Okay, so he's going to state what the state police's role was in that situation.
Prior to the shooting, our role was to support the Secret Service with personnel and assets that they requested.
Our operation plan completed to fulfill this responsibility consisted of 32 members, and we had two main responsibilities.
A motorcade operation for the transportation with the Secret Service.
So they have their own operation plan that they did?
President Trump, as well as manning and staffing security posts inside the secure area of the Butler County Farm show.
Additionally, we provided two marked cars with uniformed troopers outside of the secure perimeter to provide roving duties.
As the name implies, responding to incidents that may occur as a large gathering of people were moving to the- So they're just patrolling, going back and forth?
After the shooting, very early after the shooting, I had a conversation with the FBI, wherein the FBI is the responsible investigating agency for the attempted assassination of a former president under federal law.
The same actions that led to that also led to the homicide of one Pennsylvanian and the attempted homicide of two additional, as well as The use of force by the Secret Service countersniper to neutralize the threat of Mr.
Crooks, thus necessitating an officer-involved shooting investigation.
So the PSP currently is conducting a criminal investigation parallel to and in concert with the FBI to identify any and all parties criminally culpable under Pennsylvania state law.
For the homicide.
For the homicide.
I told you guys.
I told y'all!
As I said, we're additionally conducting an investigation into the U.S. Secret Service counter-sniper who neutralized the threat posed by Crooks after he opened fire.
I've been recently briefed about...
So anytime there's an officer involved shooting, guys, they have to investigate it and make sure that he acted within reason and it was a clean shoe.
So I literally called this, y'all.
I didn't watch this testimony, guys.
They're doing the murder investigation on the state side.
And they're also doing, and the injuries, and they're also doing the, what's it called, the investigation into the officer that was the Secret Service agent that did the shooting.
It's just, it's protocol.
They have to do it anytime there's an officer-involved shooting.
The Department of Homeland Security's commissioned after-action report.
I can tell you that the Pennsylvania State Police will fully cooperate with that investigation, and it's my hope that I can answer some questions here today without sacrificing that ongoing investigation.
And prove to be of value to the committee.
Thank you very much.
All right.
Thank you, Colonel Paris.
I now recognize Mr.
Yose for five minutes to summarize his opening statement.
Good morning, Chairman Green, Representative Thompson, and distinguished members of the House Committee on Homeland Security.
My name is Patrick Yose, and I'm the national president of the Fraternal Auto Police, the nation's oldest and largest law enforcement labor organization.
All right, so he's there to represent him, his union rep.
When you're a uniform, guys, you can go ahead and get a union rep to come with you to stuff like this, because obviously you're under oath.
You don't want to jam yourself up.
And you've been subpoenaed, so you have to go.
...to recognize a long-term member of Congress...
So this is effectively like his lawyer, almost.
...and a member of this committee.
...the witnesses alike, and pressing for hard answers.
She was a prolific legislator who took pride in writing her own legislation and improving the bills of her colleagues through amendments.
Congresswoman Jackson Lee fought for resources, first responders, help for the...
I just want to make sure I say this.
You feel comfortable at any time to say, I'm sorry, this could compromise the investigation.
These guys get this all the time.
This is classified information.
They're accustomed to that.
So just, you know, they're going to be cool with that, I assure you.
Members will be recognized by order of seniority when we come back from votes, but we will take a recess and return.
Secret Service use any drones for surveillance that day.
Yield, I now recognize a ranking member for his five minutes of questioning.
Thank you very much.
Now we're getting into the questioning.
Here we go.
Commissioner Parrish, you talked about your tenure.
I got you guys.
I just skipped through the bullshit, man.
Let's go.
With the Pennsylvania State Police.
Have you worked other events where a presidential candidate or the president has come to Pennsylvania?
Yes, I have, sir.
So this would not have been an unusual occurrence to participate?
I ran the numbers.
We typically do about 20 missions a year, the low 20s a year, and a regular year.
We're already in the low 20s this year being an election year.
So our commanders in the field who interface with the Secret Service to plan and provide support are on a routine basis.
I wouldn't say an everyday occurrence, but a fairly routine basis.
Okay.
So can you walk us through the Pennsylvania State Police's...
So Trump's team talks to PSP, Pennsylvania State Police, every time they come into Pennsylvania.
...action.
Pennsylvania's an important state, guys, so of course they go there often.
With the Secret Service, you kind of started off giving us, from the point of contact, That an occurrence was about to happen.
Was there anything particular about the Butler, Pennsylvania event that stands out as regular, irregular, or anything?
I would say, not to my knowledge, based on our discussions with our commanders who planned it, it progressed along a normal timeline.
They attempted to give the Secret Service and I believe provided the Secret Service with everything they were requested.
So your role on that day in terms of the state police was what?
So I would classify it as in a support role, and the two main areas of responsibility for the state troopers that were assigned that day were those participating in the motorcade to get former President Trump from his point of landing to the venue in Butler County and back with several other additional entities that were requested by the Secret Service.
And then on-site, we had to staff security posts that were determined by the Secret Service.
All of those posts were inside of the secure perimeter of the Butler County Farm show.
I guess I was one of those individuals who traveled to Butler.
Just for my information, have you had any interaction with the FBI or anything as they look into the investigation as to what you or your men observed on that day?
Yes, we're conducting an investigation largely in concert with and parallel to the Bureau because the actions of Crooks have federal legal implications and state law implications.
The murder is the main one.
President Yostin, your comments, you talked about the need for communication.
You talked about FirstNet.
And so we have federal, state, and local law enforcement at an event like what we're talking about in Butler.
But in our conversation with some of the locals...
Not state police, but the Sheriff's Department and the Chief of Police and Butler yesterday.
Those individuals did not have communication with actually state police or Secret Service.
Would that, in your professional opinion, be a vulnerability for managing a seriously injured?
I'd like to pause for a moment of silence and remember for a prayer.
I don't want to get locked into a timeline of three minutes before.
That's probably a total number of time, amount of time that he...
Okay, they're doing a moment of silence here, so let me go back currently.
For the Secret Service to operate all across the United States and have each individual agency telling the Secret Service how the operation should be run.
They're the lead agency.
If that was something that their protocols called for during the initial meeting when preliminary steps and agencies were brought together, that would be something that would be discussed typically.
The AGR building, did your guys on the ground there ever voice concerns the Secret Service for not putting somebody on that building?
So...
I suppose the best sequence of events that I can give you is that PSP was notified by email on July 5th about this event.
There was an initial planning meeting where we had commanders present on Monday, July 8th.
So over Tuesday the 9th and Wednesday the 10th, those commanders that we designated, basically our orders are from the front office, my team on down.
We work collaboratively with the Secret Service, collaborate, give them what we can.
The final walkthrough occurred on the 11th.
Present at that meeting were the two commanders that were tasked with both staffing the security checkpoints on the interior of the secure perimeter, as well as the commander who was going to be in charge of the motorcade.
But in addition to that, a PSP area commander was on that walkthrough, holding the rank of major.
Could you share a little bit of insight?
I appreciate the timeline, but could you share a little bit?
Because I only have about a minute.
I apologize.
Yeah, the specific to the AGR building.
So on that walkthrough, our area commander...
Asked specifically who was responsible for the AGR building, and we were told that Butler ESU was responsible for that area by several Secret Service agents on that walkthrough.
Okay.
All right.
One last quick question.
Real quick, I mean, I'll let you comment about it.
The slope of the roof, would that have prevented a sniper from being up there?
I don't believe so, sir.
Okay, thank you.
I yield, I now recognize the ranking member for his five minutes of questioning.
Thank you very much.
Commissioner Parrish, you talked about your tenure with the Pennsylvania State Police.
Have you worked other events where a presidential candidate or the president has come?
There's an infrastructure in place now to address these, you know, in our operabilities, but that's used to command center and interaction.
And I'll wrap up real quickly, Mr.
Chair.
All right, now we're current.
Siloing makes sense, but we need to look at how we make it a clearer chain of communication to ensure that really important pieces of information, like identifying the shooter on the roof, doesn't get delayed in moving through those channels.
So thank you both for appearing here.
Thank you both for your service, and thank you, Chair.
I yield back.
Gentlemen Yields, I now recognize Congressman Ezell for his five minutes of testimony.
Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
We also want to thank all of you for being here today and for Speaker Johnson for putting together a bipartisan task force so we can get as much information to find out what happened here.
Today's conversation regarding the attempted assassination of former President Trump is a critical one that I pray never happens again.
Throughout my law enforcement career, I held many leadership positions, and through those roles, I've coordinated with the White House, advanced teams, state and local law enforcement, and doing some of these very same similar type events.
And we have one goal in mind, and that's to keep people safe.
Because of a massive failure in communication, President Trump was shot from a little more than a football field away.
And because of the failure of former Secret Service leadership, especially the former director of spectators, were forced to do what the Secret Service failed to do, and that was to protect themselves from bullets.
Ultimately, this led to the death of Corey Compertore, who gave his life while bravely shielding his wife and children during this terrible thing.
Colonel, thank you for being here today, and I've said From the beginning, if you want answers, you got to talk to the men and women who were on the ground, the law enforcement officers who were out there, and who were taking directions and commands from the leadership of Secret Service and various other leaders.
You testified that 32 members of PSP were assigned to various roles to assist the Secret Service.
Is that correct?
Yes, sir, I did.
Your officers were assigned to various roles, but they were not responsible for securing the building Or property at AGR, is that correct?
Yes, sir.
The former director testified yesterday that the building was outside the Secret Service perimeter.
Did the U.S. Secret Service leadership direct local or state police that that was their job to secure the building?
And if so, did they provide any guidance on this?
So as I stated earlier, aside from the briefing that I received about the walkthrough when the question was raised and the response from the advance team of the Secret Service, the agents on the pre-plan, that that was going to be the responsibility of Butler ESU. I have no first-hand knowledge about any interaction between the Secret Service and any other entity, really.
Thank you.
The Secret Service established and managed the primary command post for communications in the office...of the Butler Farm Show.
Is that correct?
That's my understanding, sir, yes.
Command Center, as well, the brass sets, guys, and gives orders.
...siloed, and local law enforcement were not in frequent radio contact directly with the Secret Service.
Local SWAT and sniper teams were on a separate radio channels from patrol.
Colonel, do your radios have the capability to be programmed to be in contact with other agencies?
And do you know if the officers on the ground that day had communication capabilities with the Secret Service that was on duty that day?
You're asking me a very specific question that I would defer to your communication and information services.
I can get you an answer as to what those were.
Thank you very much.
Do you know if the Secret Service provided any guidance on combined communications?
I do not.
Again, referring, I have not seen their operations plan.
Oh, shit.
Well, he wasn't there, so he doesn't get an out plan.
That makes sense.
This guy's a colonel.
He's really high up.
He's not going to be there in the fucking security detail like this.
Colonel, how would you have responded to that information?
So, again, I certainly wouldn't articulate that at that point a rangefinder, which could have legal and legitimate use at that point.
Is a threat, but it's certainly a highly suspicious activity that should be addressed.
Exactly.
Mr.
Woese, you testified clear and constant communication is crucial to ensure the security of the protectee.
And that local law enforcement should be part of the command post to facilitate real-time information sharing and rapid response to emerging situations.
As we all know, separate communications are necessary and effective during a large-scale event like this.
There's no way everybody can be on the same channel.
You talk over each other, you won't ever get anything done.
But there must be some clear understandings through communications at the beginning So that split-second decisions can be made so there won't be a lapse in time and these terrible things happen.
Would you like to just say a few words about that?
Sir, there's no doubt when you look at how many people are involved in an operation like this, having everyone on one channel is difficult.
But there are people within contained areas and their ability to be able to communicate as things change across platforms is crucial.
In this case, we know that in seconds, things unfolded.
In seconds, getting meaningful communication out to people who might be able to act on that communication is vital.
So, I think there's avenues here.
I agree that not everyone should be on the same channel, but there are certain people within certain areas and perimeters that should be having communication or the ability to communicate a little more freer.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
I yield back.
Gentleman yields.
I now recognize Mr.
D'Esposito representing the New York law enforcement community as well for five minutes of testimony.
Thank you, Mr.
Chairman, and good afternoon.
Thank you both for your service.
On July 13th, we witnessed the Secret Service fail to secure a Pennsylvania field and keep the former president of the United States of America and the Americans that were gathered there safe.
While President Trump thankfully survived this horrific attack, Corey Competore, a volunteer fire chief, a father, and a husband died.
While shielding his family from the assassin's bullets.
Two others, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, were both struck by bullets and are still recovering.
The Secret Service failed.
Quite frankly, they failed miserably.
And Colonel Paris, Mr.
Yeo's Mr.
Ezell, myself, we could probably combine our law enforcement experience and have no question that there was failures that day.
We could probably ask someone who just graduated from a police academy or a veteran with 40 years on the job and they would agree.
So my first question is to Colonel Paris.
I know that you mentioned over the last year you've had close to 20 So I would say the basic timeline is the same.
We are notified at some point.
That there's going to be a visit of a protectee or the president and everybody in between.
The venue is ultimately secured, the logistics, and then there's planning at the request of the Secret Service.
And our default position is to attempt to partner and give them all the support that we can.
Okay.
Now, I know that Mr.
Menendez had similar questions, but I just want to reiterate because I think it's critically important.
Of the dozens of times that you've dealt with visits from the President of the United States, and I'm sure you've thought about this dozens and dozens of times at this point, and read through emails and thought about different incidents, compared to the incident on July 13th, was there anything different from the way that this was handled?
Not to my knowledge, sir.
Okay.
So at approximately 5.51 p.m., Pennsylvania State Police notified the Secret Service of a subject with a rangefinder.
That was 20 minutes before the gunman shot President Trump and two others.
This is for either one of you.
What should have happened next?
So ideally I would say that Mr.
Crooks could have been encountered and intercepted.
That would have been the ideal.
Mr.
Yewes?
Well, again, I have no direct knowledge.
I want to make that clear.
But I think also we need to assess the threat and determine whether there's a need to withhold the asset from the stage.
So I think we all know what should have happened, right?
20 minutes passed.
There was someone who eventually took a shot at a former president of the United States and killed two innocent Americans.
So we know what did happen.
One innocent American.
We know what should have happened.
What do you say to those that are saying that local law enforcement failed to provide adequate security at this route?
Good question.
See what they say on this one.
As I stated earlier, based on everything I know up until day 10, I only am going to comment on the Pennsylvania State Police, and it's my belief as I sit here, based on all the information that I have, that we met or exceeded our expectations for that event.
Am I saying that the event was a success?
Obviously it was not.
And our hearts go out to those affected.
Good answer.
We're not lead, baby.
Translation, we're not the lead agency.
I will echo the fact that local law enforcement plays a huge role and must.
I don't think the federal agencies have the ability with bandwidth to be able to have this event without coordinated effort with local law enforcement.
To my knowledge, local law enforcement did what their responsibilities and directions were.
And Mr.
Uros, we've The United States Secret Service established and managed the primary command post.
Would you agree, Colonel, that in the United States of America, we have a serious issue when it comes to law enforcement and communicating through multiple jurisdictions and agencies at a singular event?
I would say the short answer is it depends, but communications are always a critical piece to any successful operation.
So I agree it does depend, but I do have a concern.
When some people's lives are on the lines, when we are supposed to be protecting an asset, regardless of who it is, but especially someone who was the President of the United States, the fact that law enforcement agencies are communicating at such a critical time via text message is a problem.
And it's one that I think this committee and other committees need to take a real hard look at.
Mr.
Chairman, I yield back.
Gentlemen, I now recognize Mr.
Strong for a five-minute question.
Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
Thank you for being here today.
I think we all agree that none of us ever wanted to be holding a hearing like this.
As we have covered, the Secret Service relies on federal, state, and local partners to coordinate and secure events to ensure the safety of its protectee.
As both of you rightly emphasized in your testimony, Secret Service is the ultimate responsible and the final arbiter of any and all security matters affecting their protectee.
Full stop.
Mr.
Yose, you also went on to highlight the importance of mutual respect, trust, and shared commitment.
In the relationship between Secret Service, the state, and locals.
I was pleased to learn that Director Cheadle has tendered her resignation.
This is the first time we have seen real accountability from the Director following July the 13th.
It is my hope the truth will now come.
Her lack of leadership following the assassination attempt has not only impeded the ongoing investigation and eroded the public's trust, but it is also the potential to erode The mutual respect and trust that are fundamental to this relationship between the Secret Service and partners they rely on.
Colonel Parris, I understand that state and locals were the ones that first alerted the command center of a suspicious individual some 20 minutes before he started shooting.
Is that correct?
As I said before, I would agree with the sequence of events, but I don't want to Go on the record with the exact time.
Yeah.
Guys, this is what happens when you testify.
You don't want to be too specific.
Does the Pennsylvania State Police use a digital radio system, whether it be the P25 or something of that nature?
Yes, we do.
And it has unbelievable technology.
I know we've utilized it throughout the state of Alabama 40 years.
And as a first responder, to go from UHF, VHF, to a digital system changes the ballgame.
Does the Secret Service also use a digital radio system?
I would have to get you information on that.
I don't know, sir.
So the communication between the agencies, you know, you start looking at it.
The communication with a digital radio system, you can change frequencies.
You can make a mutual frequency.
Every radio has, you can have hundreds of different frequencies.
But as far as you're not sure if they have a digital radio system or if they're using another conventional UHF or VHF frequency or something of that nature.
In answer to the first part, I'm not an expert on radios.
I can't render an opinion on what their system is, but the only answer I would provide is my understanding is there are certain encrypted capabilities that the Secret Service has to maintain that may provide difficulty in what would otherwise be.
If we had a regular incident, we were able to set up a patch to communicate across agencies.
Thank you.
Colonel Paris, as you just shared, after state and locals identified the shooter as suspicious, they relayed that information to Secret Service and were given a number to send their concerns to.
Is this standard operating procedures to be left a phone number to give your information to, rather than direct communications through radio?
I don't want to say that it's standard operating procedure, but if it was a system or a measure that worked to push that information to the people who needed it in the most expeditious means, I wouldn't be averse to going away from standard protocols.
You said that you had done this type of event with other presidents or in your state.
In past history, is this how it usually was done?
I can't say that I have had a personal experience about...
I've obviously been present when there were suspicious people that came out over the radio and law enforcement was seeking them, but I can't say that I have a frame of reference exactly on point here, sir.
Did the Secret Service provide rules of engagement for state and locals?
Did y'all have to authorize a green light for fire, or do you go by your day-to-day activity?
We would go by the policy and regulations and state law that cover the Pennsylvania State Police.
Another thing that stood out to me with a background in emergency medical services is when the president was brought off, you saw his SUV move about 20 feet and then it sat there.
We watched as a lady in a skirt walked in front of the SUV. We watched as other law enforcement people, spectators, whatever, Did you notice that that seemed to be a long time for the president to be sitting for someone that had taken a bullet?
Did you think that was a long time?
I would completely defer to the Secret Service.
Thank you.
Mr.
Chairman, I yield back.
Gentlemen, yields.
I now recognize Mr.
Crane for five minutes of question.
Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
I'd like the staff to go ahead and play the video that I took at the site yesterday.
This is when they were out there.
The congresspeople went out to Pennsylvania to look at it.
I suppose the sniper took his shot.
It's not that steep at all.
We just had a 70-year-old man back here climb up on the roof easily.
See that water tower behind me?
Secret Service or anybody had sniper teams up there.
This guy wouldn't have made it five feet up this roof.
He would have been taken out.
Behind me, you see the windows that Secret Service was supposedly in the second floor of this building behind.
Makes you wonder why they weren't able to quickly dispatch the individual.
And then behind me, back over here where those red roofs are, that's where the...
Can you guys cut it?
Right there, please.
...was giving a speech from.
A lot of questions here in Butler.
Cut it.
Thank you.
All right, Colonel Paris, did you notice when you showed up on site what the tallest structure on the site was?
I can't say at the moment that I arrived that I did.
No, sir.
Okay.
Now that you've had a chance to go back and look over it, what is the tallest structure on that site?
The water tower, sir.
Absolutely.
Colonel, do you know how far the water tower was from the roof where the shooter took his shots?
I do not.
160 yards, sir.
Who made the decision, Colonel, not to put a counter-sniper team on the tallest structure by far on the site with 360-degree surveillance?
Do you have any idea?
I do not know, sir.
Okay.
We'd like to get that answer.
Did you see the video that showed me sticking my phone out the second-story window?
Did you see that?
Yes, sir.
Okay.
Exposing the coverage of the window of the entire roof.
Are you aware that local law enforcement and Secret Service had full access to that building in that room?
My understanding is that they did.
Yeah.
Why weren't security teams, sir, on-site able to spot a 20-year-old kid with zero camouflage crawling up a white roof with an AR-15 that several rally-goers were screaming and yelling and pointing out and they noticed him and they weren't even there to conduct security.
They were there to watch the president.
Do you have any idea why the security teams couldn't find that guy?
I do not, sir.
Would the gentleman yield for just a second on that?
So just for clarification, it was the ESU guys that were manning those buildings, and they left because of the call of the suspicious person.
So they left their post there to go look for him.
They're the same individuals who attempted to climb up the building and were scared away by the shooter pointing the gun, right?
I reclaimed my time.
Thank you.
I'm just wondering why they weren't able to find him, because even while they were looking, they could have still looked out that window that they had access to.
All right.
Colonel Parris, I'm just going to say it.
Are you aware, sir, that many Americans believe this was very likely not a lone shooter, but a coordinated assassination attempt?
Have you been getting those messages from people like I have?
I have not, sir.
You haven't?
Well, there's a lot of people in this room that have been getting the same messages.
Why do you think that is?
Why do you think that a lot of Americans are like, this doesn't add up, this doesn't make sense, guys.
How could this many things have gone wrong?
Like the things I pointed out, a 20-year-old kid got 150 yards of the President of the United States with an AR-15, flew a drone to conduct site surveillance, was spotted with a rangefinder, ranging targets, then lost, Had advanced explosive devices on him with no military training.
Nobody was placed in the most obvious spot to conduct counter-sniper operations.
I was a sniper in the SEAL team's colonel.
As soon as I got out of the SUV and I saw that water tower, I was like, that's exactly where I'd be.
Put me right there.
So obvious.
After partisan attempts to bankrupt him, imprison him for 750 years, and countless depictions as a modern-day Hitler, are you surprised, sir, that a lot of Americans are like, maybe there's more to this story?
I wouldn't begin to speculate about what the American people think, sir.
Colonel, did your team make an investigation at the suspect's home?
You guys brought me down here.
I don't want to be here.
You asked me these goddamn questions.
Excuse me, sir.
I asked that question.
Did your team make entry and conduct any investigation at the suspect's home?
I believe we had people that participated in that securing of it.
There were bomb assets that we provided.
Mr.
Chairman, can I have 30 more seconds?
Yeah, yeah.
I'm letting everybody count.
Okay.
On the night of.
Since then, none...
Did you get any reports from any of your agents of anything fishy at the home?
I was briefed on...
Was there any silverware found in the home or trash?
I have nothing in the briefing that I was given, sir.
Was it extremely clean, almost like a medical lab?
Were you given any of those reports?
I was not given any of those details, sir.
Okay, that's what I'm hearing.
Interesting.
The last thing I want to enter into the record, Mr.
chairman this is uh article opinion from uh i believe the washington post by robert kagan a trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable we should stop pretending this is this article compares trump to caesar and attempts to justify the assassination of president trump and i think even though we want to dodge around it and not make this partisan
i think we all know that a lot of this has to do with the rhetoric the very violent rhetoric that has led up to this Thank you.
I yield back.
Gentleman yields and so ordered on the entry of that into the record, I now recognize Mr.
Burkine for five minutes of testimony or witness questioning.
Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
Alexander, would you mind moving that just a little bit forward here so I can...
They got a little diagram.
Can you see that or am I obstructing your view?
I believe I can see it, sir.
Alexander, would you mind...
I'm sorry.
Can we shift it just a little bit to your left, Alexander?
Alexander.
There we go.
Okay.
Better?
Yes, sir.
Okay.
So this is a picture I took yesterday on the grounds, looking out of that second story window that has the corridor that connects the AGR building, the American Glass Research Building, with where the shooter's location, and I'm going to stand up and I'm going to point to the shooter's location as we were made aware.
From that X is where the shooter was shared with us.
His body was found.
From this viewpoint, there's some videos that make it look like he's more this direction, but from the perception, it kind of is confusing.
But he was more towards that opposite side.
This window, second story, it's the second window from the right side.
That window has this view where they could clearly, those ESU officers that were stationed, given access by the property owner to that window, could see the shooter had they stayed in that manned position.
This is there moving towards the location of President Trump with the red barns back here.
His stage was right in front of that.
And you can see a window here that is absolutely going to obstruct the view.
To be able to look to the 20 or 30 different barn structures, the cattle building, the sheep building, the hog building, the rodeo arena by the pond.
The many structures are 50 buildings within a 500-yard radius of where President Trump was at.
So many vulnerabilities.
Do you see a problem with that window being in the way of someone being able from this position to be able to take care of the asset?
A casement window would Present a tactical concern for full field.
And I understand, potentially, you know, this was air conditioning on top of this second story building, was it?
And so maybe that was a consideration.
But ultimately, Secret Service is the one who made the determination of placement or contacting or making sure the plan was in coordination with the property owner for allowing, gaining admittance from the property owner for this second story window.
Is that correct?
That was Secret Service's plan.
Correct.
Ultimately, it's on...
It's on Secret Service for that plan.
All right.
My question is...
If it's their plan, did they not indicate that someone had to stay manned in that location?
Because we're being told that when the two officers, local PD, were trying to lift them...
Alright, so this is interesting to figure out which local law enforcement agencies were there.
Was it state police?
Was it Butler Police Department?
Was it Sheriff's Office?
Who was it?
...on the opposite side to get a look at the gentleman and he turns his gun and they dropped off the building.
This would have been a perfect opportunity for someone to be on the radio.
They could have taken him out from this location.
Did the Secret Service plan not include directives from staying in those positions?
I don't know, sir.
You don't know.
All right, here's another question.
With the two minutes that you said that there was an opportunity from the time that they were hoisted up, looked at the shooter...
You're given the responsibility, as this is delegating the outer perimeter, to secure the area.
Why weren't they able to immediately call their supervisor, who would then be authorized to issue a hold on the asset, or a get him off the stage call?
Why does it have to be, as your testimony says, they took a picture, sent it to Secret Service, 20 minutes before the incident, the shooting, and they have to wait for a response.
Why is not the line of communication, I understand they're on different radio frequencies, why were they not empowered to say, if we send something suspicious, then state police, local law enforcement, Sheriff's department, each one, the head official of each one of those departments, if we entrusted them with enough responsibility to secure that environment, then we ought to give them the responsibility to issue a hold call because of something that they see as a threat.
Are they empowered to do that, or does it have to all go through Secret Service to issue a hold?
Secret Service.
I can only say what I know about the state police operations plan, and I do not know the answer to your question, sir.
I do not know the answer.
I don't know what the protocol would be to issue the hold order.
And just as a point of clarification that I tried to clean up with the Congressman from New Jersey before, when the two municipal officers were, one was hoisted- Can I jump on that?
Two to three minutes because I get limited time here.
Just to make sure, that was seconds before.
That was seconds before Crooks started firing.
Okay, you had said earlier today it was two to a few minutes, but you're saying seconds before.
I cleaned that up for the second time.
Yes, sir.
Okay.
But even if they're hoisting, your testimony today, if I understood you correctly, it was two different officers that were hoisting to get a look at him, not the ones who were manned in this view.
That is my understanding, yes, sir.
Okay.
So had they remained in there, they immediately would have seen the incident taking place if they were on the same line of communication, and they could have taken the asset out.
I'm remiss to say that because I don't know what their general rules of engagement and assignment were from the Secret Service.
It just looks to me like a major breakdown of communication.
This procedure looks to me like it is lapsed with the ability of someone who, if they entrust them with the ability to secure these perimeter, they ought to be empowered enough to be able to give the authority on their comms to issue a hold.
I don't understand that.
With that, I yield, Mr.
Chairman.
The gentleman yields.
I'm going to say this because I have thoroughly enjoyed both of your testimony today.
There are a lot of guys up here on both sides of the aisle that are charged about this.
Their emotion is not intended to communicate a lack of trust in the Pennsylvania State Police.
You're being incredibly helpful today.
Some of the things that we've discovered from your testimony have brought some frustration to our folks, and I hope you'll understand it in that context, that the energy is not directed at you.
The failure to set up appropriate communication systems and to make decisions when they become aware of someone pointing a rangefinder is what's got people upset, and that's on Secret Service.
I just wanted to make sure y'all heard that from me.
Mr.
Chairman, if I was amped up a little bit, I concur.
So, greatly respect what you're doing.
I now recognize Ms.
Lee for five minutes of testimony.
Thank you, Mr.
Chairman, for having this hearing and for organizing this committee's trip to Butler, Pennsylvania.
For us, being on the ground in Butler, Pennsylvania yesterday made clear the severity of the security failures on Saturday, July 13th.
Those failures that almost allowed former President Donald Trump to be assassinated.
Unfortunately, what has followed that failed assassination attempt is an erosion of public trust related to those responsible for keeping...
Well, she goes over that.
We got 30 bucks from Sweet 303 Nashville Council Club checking in.
Shout out to you.
Sig Bore goes, Hey Byron, want to know if there's not too smart to chase, but I learned how to deal with girls.
Yeah, don't chase these bitches, bro.
Keeping the president and the attendees of the rally safe.
We've heard that because of a sloped roof, law enforcement was not able to safely secure the area that day.
We've heard reports that certain officers abandoned their posts due to weather conditions.
We've heard the Secret Service attempt to shift blame to state and local law enforcement, asserting that they failed to secure certain areas in the perimeter.
Secret Service Chief Cheadle's resignation this morning is the first of many steps that need to be taken, and today's hearing is just the beginning of our process to get clear, accurate information about this issue, about the failures associated with that day, and ensure that not only Congress, but that the American public get the answers that they deserve about these events.
Mr.
Yost, I'd like to start with you.
The Secret Service is always the lead in providing security for these types of events that involve one of their protectees, but they clearly rely on their partnerships with state and local law enforcement as they move to different locations around the country.
Are you concerned that former Director Cheadle's comments to ABC News, which many people heard as blame shifting to local law enforcement, Could undermine the level of trust between state and local authorities and Secret Service when they come to communities around America.
Yes, I absolutely do.
And our organization actually issued a press release stating just that.
Our relationship, it's impossible for a federal agency to do their function without including local law enforcement.
That's a given.
And that relationship is built on trust.
And when comments were made like what made on ABC, then we felt the need to call her out on it.
And do you believe that the federal government's statements to the public, to the American people, after this attempted assassination, have helped or harmed public trust and law enforcement overall?
You know, I'll say this.
The very powers that we have or the ability to do our job as law enforcement officers is directly related to trust.
And in an investigation, there's a fine line between what you do in order to protect an investigation and also be accountable to the public you serve.
And when you don't walk that fine line, then it does create distrust.
And it does cause a lot of confusion.
It causes people to fill in their own blanks.
And as a result, this is what we see.
Sharing accurate information is important to keep everyone informed so that it doesn't run in different directions.
And as the American people wait for an after-action report, what can or should law enforcement agencies at any level be doing to address concerns about transparency and protect that public trust?
Well, I'll start right here.
I mean, you have Pennsylvania State Police.
It filled in a lot of gaps that should have been filled in a long time ago.
This is information that should be known to everyone.
It is essential facts.
It doesn't change.
It is what it is.
And sharing this information lets everyone know exactly what occurred and gives us some insight of things that we need to correct.
And you've been here now throughout this day, throughout questioning from a number of members of this committee.
As this committee continues to investigate the failures that resulted in this shooting, what are some of the key questions that you believe should be asked about the assassination attempt as well as the management and organization of Secret Service more broadly?
Well, again, I have to be upfront in the fact that I have no direct knowledge to this incident or things that unfold.
I'll just speak in just general terms.
The first question that I think we all need to ask is, with so many elevated positions available, What steps were taken to protect those assets?
I don't know the answer to that, but there were a lot of places.
I mean, we learned a lot of lessons going back to President Kennedy.
Higher locations create unique problems, and as a result, they should have been part of any action plan.
I'm not saying they weren't.
I'm just saying that we see the end result of what happened here, so obviously we have a failure there.
Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
I yield back.
The General Lady yields back and now recognize the gentleman in whose district this tragedy occurred.
Fine Representative from Pennsylvania, Mr.
Kelly.
Thank you, Mr.
Bishop.
I appreciate Chairman Greene's allowing me to be here and then also to be in Butler yesterday where it's my hometown.
I'm four miles from this location.
My concern actually started on July the 5th when I was told that President Former President Trump was coming to Butler, and I said, that's great.
And they said, yeah, and he's going to be at the Butler Farm Show.
I said, you must mean the Big Butler Fair.
They said, no, the Butler Farm Show.
I said, who did a site visit?
The answer is, we've already made our determination.
My question was, then what you just told me is nobody's been to that site.
I will just tell you right now that what you are planning there is not proper for the crowd that's going to show up.
At that point, the person on the phone said, Mr.
Kelly, there'll be 6,000 or 7,000 people there.
I said, well, that tells me even more about the fact that you have no idea where you're going and historically what is...
Chad, do me a favor.
There's like 3,000 of you guys watching the Rumble.
Can you guys do me a huge favor?
Huge, huge favor.
Pause what you're doing.
Open up another tab on YouTube.
Watch the video on YouTube and like the video, guys.
Let's get this thing up to 2K Live viewers.
Like the video, man.
Let's get the description.
And I really appreciate that, guys.
That helps me a lot if you guys do that.
So just open up another tab on your window.
Do it on your phone, whatever.
Play it in the background.
and let it go ahead and like the video.
And I think forever now, people are going to look at what happened and say, we knew there was something wrong.
Thank you.
We could see it.
YouTube channel name is FedReacts, guys.
FedReacts.
I'll drop the link in here for y'all.
...acted quicker.
Mr.
Compertori would still be alive today.
As FedReacts, guys.
FedReacts.
President Trump would not have been wounded.
And two other people who were there that day would not have been wounded.
And in a greater sense, the American people have been wounded in a way that they have lost faith, trust, and confidence in how we protect certain people.
This goes far beyond that, and I appreciate you both being here, and I'll tell you what, you really have given us testimony based on what your whole careers have been about, and that is protecting people.
For some reason, on July 13th, we knew something was wrong.
Every person I've talked to that was there that day or responsible for protection says, we did our job.
And I said, so then you're saying that somebody else didn't do their job.
And the answer is, well, that's to be decided later on.
So I would just say, first of all, somebody else didn't do their job.
And the answer is, well, I meant what I said.
I think the American people now are deeply wounded, and the faith, trust, and confidence we need to have in our government has been fading for too long.
That's true.
No one trusts the government anymore.
I was here with the Pennsylvania State Police.
I've talked to the Pennsylvania State Police since then.
Mr.
Yose, thank you for your career.
But at the end of the day, we don't have the answers we need to have.
And I just, I said it earlier and I mean it.
There was no reason for Cory Compromitore to be dead today.
There is no reason.
For President Trump to have been wounded, or two other members in the audience that day to have been wounded, had we done what we knew before we let it go any further than that.
That could have been stopped early on.
Nobody can convince me that when people see somebody on the roof of a building, And pointing to him and yelling, there's somebody up there.
It needs to be taken care of.
And other people who were there, the eyewitnesses said, they watched him go onto those grounds.
And every time they said, there's something wrong, somebody is going in the wrong direction and shouldn't be there.
And the answer comes down, you don't know what you're talking about.
There's nobody there.
So as we continue looking at this, and I think that...
We have a lot of testimony today.
Again, I thank you for being there, but I just submit to you that the victims of that day, innocent people, None of it had to happen.
We knew beforehand and we could have prevented it, but we failed to act when we should have acted.
So I appreciate your careers and everything you've done.
And Chairman, I appreciate the fact that I've been able to be here today- You just wanted to yap, you didn't even ask any questions.
Somebody's congressman just wanted to yap, bro.
In a town that I have lived.
This spot is a place I've been at many, many, many times.
I just cannot understand why we didn't act when we knew there was something wrong.
At the very least, they could have taken President Trump off the podium.
And some of the other activity after that never would have taken place.
So, thank you for having me.
You just want to yap, bro.
Thank you both.
This one just want to yap.
He has no questions.
Thank you so much for being here.
I appreciate it, but there is far, far more we have to do.
Thank you, sir.
These guys just get too excited sometimes.
We're going to do another round of questioning.
And...
I don't know, Mr.
Cray, if you're going to want to ask any other questions.
I'll have a question.
Okay, sounds good.
So you'll follow me and then we'll go around.
I just want to get back to this text message that was sent at about 20 to 25 minutes prior.
That text message was a picture of Crook's Was it a picture of him pointing the rangefinder or of him just looking suspicious?
Chairman, I have not seen the picture that was sent, so I don't know.
My understanding is, to the best of my briefings, it was the pictures that were initially taken by Butler ESU. Okay, so that was the 62 minute prior.
Okay.
At 20, 25 minutes prior, though, someone...
Saw him pointing a rangefinder and taking range readings, right?
I think I don't want to speculate as to what he actually was doing with the rangefinder, but the rangefinder, my understanding is, was the heightened suspicion.
Yes, sir.
And he was pointing it?
I mean, because a rangefinder...
I guess you can have it digital and do it like this, but there are also range finders you look through and you have a reading.
Do you know description of the range finder?
It was not brief to me.
Okay.
But there was concern, and that was relayed to the command post.
And that was a PSP guy in the Secret Service command post via a text message 20-something minutes before, and you'd think it included the fact that the guy had a range finder.
My understanding is yes.
Okay.
Okay.
Then you mentioned that the two ESU guys that were in the second story, it's honestly, in truth, to me, it appears to be a second building behind it that got joined by all these different...
The breakup of that whole complex and the intricacies of, you know, places to hide and move around, you know, all the little alleyways is because they built tunnelways or...
Not tunnels, but hallways that were covered between each of these different buildings.
So it's actually a separate building with a...
Connector.
Yep.
So there are two guys in that building.
They leave to go look for the guy.
The suspicious person.
My understanding is, yes, according to interviews.
So they were not manning...
They did not have oversight on that rooftop because they were out looking for the guy.
Correct.
My understanding is it was the grounds around there...
To see it photographed now or on your tour yesterday without scores of people traversing from different parking areas to make ingress into the secure perimeter that there was a concerted effort to try and identify and make contact with him.
Sure.
In conjunction with other, I was briefed that there were two other suspicious individuals that, simultaneous to this, not terribly too far away, distance-wise, I don't have the specifics, but this is all occurring contemporaneously.
But one of them, Crooks, had a rangefinder.
And so they leave and they go, look, he's suspicious.
That leaves that building with two sets of eyes that could have observed it, granted, by exposing themselves.
And by the way, I would think they could stay in the building as opposed to being on top of it for their own sort of defilade position.
I get that as a sniper works.
But, you know, you've got to be able to see it.
So anyway, they leave...
Was Secret Service notified that they were leaving to go look for this guy and thus those eyes on top of the building known?
I do not know.
And the other thing that I do not know is where else Butler ESU sent that information.
I have not been briefed on that.
Who told them...
Who told them to go look?
Do you know if they were told to go look?
He's not going to know any of this.
We just know that they did go look.
Guys, he's not going to know any of this.
A very concerted effort with all of those alcoves and all of those buildings was made.
There were two additional officers who, again, I don't know the specifics of the timeline.
I don't know the specifics of the logistics of how that information was relayed, but I'm briefed that they came and they made a very concerted effort to try and locate crooks.
But it seems to me that that was leaving that Extra set of eyes on top of the building.
It would be something I, if I were the site commander at that point, I'd want to know two guys are leaving a post where they have observation on a building and that somebody relayed that to me so that I would know, wait a minute, now two sets of eyes that were on the building.
You know what I'm saying?
It's like if you pull security, if you pull your lateral security in an ambush or something.
I'm talking like an army guy now.
The commander's going to know that that guy's moved away from there, and now he's got a blind spot, right?
So I just want to make sure, I want to dig into that a little more.
Obviously, you don't have the answer, so we'll dig elsewhere, but I find it interesting that they leave, this guy is so suspicious, has a rangefinder, they leave their post that they are manning to go look for him, yet Secret Service, and they get told about it 20 to 25 minutes beforehand, but Secret Service still lets the president go on the stage.
I'm just I'm totally blown away by that, but again, there's more details to be had.
Thank you for being here.
I really appreciate it.
I'm going to turn it over now to the ranking member for his five minutes of questioning.
Gentlemen, thank you for being here today.
Commissioner Paris, Mr.
Yost, we're looking at a rearview mirror of what happened.
A lot of good questions from both sides of the aisle.
Commissioner Paris, you don't have the luxury of time.
You're protecting governor and you'll be protecting high-profile candidates in your battleground state like right about now.
I'm trying to figure out how we help you do your job a whole lot better.
Mr.
Kelly His line of questioning was interesting.
And I consider it important because that's his background, that's his backyard.
And he asked, who decided the site of the event?
It's a good question.
Bigger question is, who okays, who approves the site of an event?
And I come back to what I said earlier, which is one of those officers on the ground said, Lou, he said, who's in charge?
The Secret Service says, good or bad, does the campaign then say good or bad, or does the campaign have the ability to override the Secret Service at an event?
And I say, and I ask this question from you, Commissioner Paris, you're going to have to make these decisions here real soon.
As if I'm here where you're at today.
Bro.
Today, you've learned some lessons.
The 13th to today, we've all learned some lessons, and you have to execute, sir.
And it's not your responsibility.
It's not our responsibility.
It's all of us our responsibility.
And I want to know how we can help you clarify these lines of command, so to speak, to make sure that we minimize the possibilities of this happening again.
Who makes the decisions?
Who's in charge?
What are the lessons we've learned today, gentlemen?
They're not kids, dude.
What is it that we can do to make sure that it's not going to be on your shoulders?
You're not going to be able to resign.
Bro.
You have to execute.
Please.
And that's why these congresspeople piss me off sometimes.
They're very fucking condescending, dude.
In the legislature, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, we are very supported.
And we have the resources, I believe, moving forward to rise to the occasion.
The Secret Service remains the agency with the most experience, traditionally, when you talk about organizational knowledge to carry this forward.
Like, bro, this guy's like the head of the state police.
He doesn't give a fuck what you think, you stupid congressman.
Like, bro, what the fuck, man?
Condescending dickhead for no reason.
Shut up, nigga.
He's not the lead.
Civilian and enlisted Pennsylvania state police show up every day to do.
We will do.
We want a...
A robust republic and we want to secure people's ability to express their views and we have worked diligently and will continue to work diligently to make sure that that happens, sir.
Commissioner Paris, you are the thin blue line.
Keeps us safe.
Secret Service is an even thinner line.
It keeps, in many ways, our democracy functioning, protecting us.
They have to score 100%.
They cannot let one bad thing happen as they did on the 13th.
I want to make sure that we know, that we give the Secret Service the ability to make those decisions when it comes to the safety of our candidates and elected officials.
And for the third time, I'm going to repeat those words that were told to me by An individual, law enforcement individual, on the ground when he said, Lou, who's in charge?
Is it the campaign?
Or is it the Secret Service?
And I'd like to get to the bottom of that and make sure it's the Secret Service that's in charge.
I don't know who is in charge, and I hope to God that we do find out.
And I hope it's a Secret Service and...
Whoever wrote the OBS plan and signed off on it is who's in charge, man.
These congresspeople are boneheads, bro.
Remember talking to a fucking top guy of state police as if he's gonna have the fucking answers.
Bro, their job is to escort the president with their fucking marked units, be there as a presence, that's it.
I yield.
There you go, no shit.
He yields back.
I now recognize myself for five minutes of questioning Colonel Paris.
These guys, bro.
I appreciate your patience.
Who's in charge?
Nigga, shut up.
And continuing and through this questioning.
And I would submit...
I think your candor, Colonel Parris, has been very refreshing, and it paints a clear contrast from what was the testimony of the director of the Secret Service yesterday, who's now resigned.
But her resignation doesn't resolve a thing.
And in fact, the criminal investigation that your department is undertaking, that presumably Butler authorities may be involved in, FBI is undertaking, those don't really resolve anything.
They affix criminal liability of someone who's presumably, if they acted alone, is dead.
What is the most important issue is we have a national security crisis.
We have, right now, the only person who's been inactivated, as I understand it, is the sharpshooter who took the perp out The people who made what appear to be unbelievably horrendous decisions.
You can't even imagine.
It boggles the mind, the decisions that were made.
They're still in place.
And we have multiple protectees moving around the country every day.
And those same people, I don't even know if they've changed anything about what they're doing.
Presumably you would think so, but we don't know that.
So I think we need to learn as much as possible from you.
I will say as a note of departure, I don't think, from what I've heard, you've made pretty clear the Pennsylvania State Police didn't do anything wrong.
I don't know whether Butler County ESU might have done something wrong, so let me bear into that.
Okay, all right.
But it's clear to me as a bell that Secret Service, and that's everyone's characterized as a colossal failure, because it's obvious to everyone concerned that that's the case.
The two who were, I'm going to get one thing I understand transpired while I was absent from the hearing for a bit.
Do I understand that the two Butler ESU officers who one hoisted the other to the roof line where the Just so you guys know, that's not the same agency as this guy.
Those were two different ESU officers than the ones that originally spotted crooks from the second floor.
These guys are local police.
He's state police.
Just to be clear, my understanding is the two officers that responded and one hoisted up the second one were not part of Butler ESU. They were two separate municipal officers who were tasked with A different responsibility.
Okay.
I would speculate as an example to say a traffic post or a...
Understood.
And they responded.
I don't know, again, the specifics as to how they were alerted.
You've got to bring those two guys in.
But just to be clear, they were too separate.
You need to bring both of them in.
Okay.
The ESU, the Butler ESU officers who...
Honestly, I'll just stop talking to this trooper and bring those motherfuckers in immediately.
From the second floor of the AGR building.
That is my understanding.
Yes, sir.
Okay.
Were they posted there in order to maintain overwatch on the roof, or were they generally assigned roving responsibility to be in the vicinity of that building?
I can't answer that, and I would defer to the Secret Service as to what the communication was and the assignment given.
Put that picture of the building up.
I see it because I asked for it.
I don't even know if I'll fit it in at this point.
So that's, yeah, you see, so Crooks was on the building directly facing the camera here, and you see the window open to the left.
That's the second story of the AGR building where those ESU officers spotted Crooks, correct?
That's my understanding.
Okay.
Did they advise their senior, you know, their command that they were departing that location to look for Crooks?
Do you know that?
I do not know, sir.
Why did they stay away from that position for so long?
If I understand correctly, the picture of Crooks was texted about 20-25 minutes ahead of the shooting.
Is that correct, first of all?
Could you ask me that one more time, sir?
I just want to make sure.
Was the picture of Crooks that they took, did they take that picture and send it up to their command about 20-25 minutes before the shooting?
What I want to be specific about is when the PSP member in the command post received it, and I believe that's in the vicinity of 20-25 minutes with the caveat prior put on the record about A series of events, not a timeline minute by minute.
So you don't know whether they...
I don't specifically know.
I believe the pictures of Crooks were taken at some point before that when he was identified as being suspicious based on my prior testimony from the briefings that I had because he was...
Okay, I get it.
At least we've got a fairly long numbers of minutes, 10, 15, 20 minutes.
Why did they not return to that post?
Do you know that?
I do not know, sir.
My understanding is that there was a very concerted effort at that point to actively search and locate him and dispel that suspicion.
You mentioned that you have asked for, not received, I don't know what you call it, the site plan, but from the Secret Service has not been given to you.
Has there been anything else that you've asked for in the course of your investigation that's been denied or made inaccessible to you other than the site plan?
Again, I want to be clear.
No, I'm not aware of anything else that we've asked for, and we have not been denied.
I just believe we haven't received it yet, so I want to make sure I'm not mischaracterizing that we asked for it and we have yet to receive it.
We never get denied stuff.
We just never get it.
My time having expired, I recognize the gentleman from New York, Mr.
Lolota.
Thank you, Chairman.
Colonel, I want to reiterate the appreciation this committee has for your energy, your stamina, your focus, your candor.
It's regrettable that some of our federal colleagues are not at the table with you today.
We would have liked to extract for them some of the facts from 10 days ago.
My colleagues from both sides of the aisle, I think, asked good, fair questions of you, and you gave good, fair, accurate responses to them.
That helps us understand July 13th a little more.
It was only 10 days ago.
We're probably only in the infancy of that investigation of our oversight responsibilities, but you've provided us a lot.
I want to use the remainder of my time to look forward.
There's going to be a lot of, you know, Conjecture about what happened, who's at fault, but putting that aside.
We've talked about flaws that happened on July 13th, be it tactical flaws about communication, strategic ones like lack of drones, administrative ones like command and control and who has what authority, what are the rules of engagement.
So I wanted to ask you, Colonel, and it's been said, Pennsylvania is going to have a number of more rallies, appearances, where the public is going to interact with presidential candidates from both sides of the aisle.
What are you going to do?
How are you going to assert yourself in your leadership role to reduce the likelihood of an incident like this, specifically with respect to tactics?
We understand that radio communications were a weakness.
Do you have a perspective on looking forward, how you might command your officers in a different manner to ensure that from a tactical perspective, specifically with communications, these events are held differently in the future, sir?
So yes, I will start with referring to the testimony of Congressman Luttrell about reinforcing and reiterating to try and mitigate any potential complacency.
The Pennsylvania State Police maintains the Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence Center.
We're always trying to lean forward and glean as much criminal intelligence as we can, not only generated within the ranks of the Pennsylvania State Police, but our local partners, our county partners, and then through task force collaborations that we have with multiple federal agencies.
I can tell you that we will not back away from the Secret Service.
We will lean forward to support them and all of the resources of the Pennsylvania State Police will be brought to bear to keep Pennsylvanians and those visiting the Commonwealth safe.
Have you considered communications specifically?
Different radios, training on those radios, other communications devices, be it digital or voice or whatever.
Have you considered prospectively either acquire new technology, implementing new training, or otherwise developing tactics that allow not only state and local to communicate?
Quick announcement, guys.
I want you to go on Twitter.
If you guys look, Patrick Ben David, right, put out this tweet, right?
It says, who would you like to see on the podcast next?
Obviously, Myron Gaines and Exodia.
So I want you guys to go and like this post right now on X. And I want us to ratio everybody.
Okay?
This is, I think, like an ad or some shit like that.
This is like a weird ad.
I don't think this counts.
But like, yeah, I want to ratio everybody with the most likes on this.
We're already doing pretty damn good, but I want this to have the most likes by far.
This already has freaking 513 likes.
So go over there.
His last tweet, literally like half an hour ago, Who do you want to see next?
Boom.
Me and Exodia to talk about Israel.
So, go ahead.
Go over there, guys.
Go like it.
Let's get that ratio up.
Let's make that clap happen.
...better with each other, but also that communication to be shared more effectively with your federal partners.
I would say in the short term, coming up to the election, we're...
This Groovemaster dude hating in the chat.
Bro, Nick is my boy, man.
I'm always going to put on for my people too, bro.
Like, I'm not going to just say, no, put me.
Like, no.
It'd be fucking awesome to be me and Nick, dickhead.
So fuck you, man.
You can tell who doesn't have friends.
There's an extreme temporal component there that would make that difficult.
Fucking weirdo, man.
Maintaining critical communications.
You show love to your buddy and dude's got to talk shit.
Investigation of a traffic crash.
Fucking weirdo.
Or a major investigation, a Cavalcante manhunt, an Eric Freen manhunt, a 95 bridge disaster, a...
Ratio, guys, means like when you post something and like it has less views but it has crazy likes, that means like everyone's liking it.
And that typically hits the top.
A lot of engagement.
The derailment of a train on the border with Pennsylvania, a six-hour running gun battle in Juniata County, we're always looking...
To get better and communications that we maintain are a critical part of that.
We will try to get better.
There is something that these future endeavors which we've committed at the top of the testimony to be a part of proves that we can be better.
We're always looking every day to get better.
I know that members are allowed to, through the appropriations process, advocate for more resources to come to their state and local law enforcement partners for things like communications devices.
I know that I've been able to lean into that process here, and I'm sure that Mr.
Kelly and others from the Pennsylvania delegation would Endeavor to use federal funds to help augment your ability to increase your ability to communicate among each other and also with federal partners.
I want to move to strategy.
Thinking a little more outside the bubble in the days and weeks leading up to an event.
Colonel, do you have a sense on prospectively technology that you use, like drones, other decisions you might make, like stationing somebody on a nearby high...
Also, just explain ratio again.
Like, look, so...
PBD puts the thing out, right?
1.3k likes.
If we hit 1.3 and he has 149k views, we only have 4.9k views.
See the point?
So we have almost not even a tenth of the engagement, but over half the likes.
Look, we already beat them for the retweeting.
So that's the ratio.
That's what I mean with ratio, guys.
2.7k comments, right?
So we need to get this higher than this because his engagement is 5.3 and it's just climbing.
So that's what I mean, guys, when he gets his engagement because he's going to hit the top of his thing.
He's like, damn, this is what the people want.
Vantage Point, Leica Water Tower, you've heard some feedback from some informed members here today.
Are those things helpful for you to plan moving forward to seize opportunities, both technological and physical, for events moving forward?
Short answer is yes.
You know, our undercover assets and the surveillance and intelligence gathering is something we rely on heavily.
We do have Some drone capabilities that we're always looking to augment, but they're a phenomenal tool and certainly their use will only expand into the future, probably long after my career and somebody who comes well after.
But we're always looking to lean forward and do the job better.
And the text message was sent to, was there any comment or discussion in the command center about the advisability of Keeping the president off the stage until the matter was resolved, either at that moment or later.
I do not know, and I would only underscore what I said before, the distinction between suspicion versus a threat.
At that point, I think concerning, but it was still, the perspective at the time was suspicious and not yet a threat.
How did...
So...
The information was relayed from ESU officers to a PSP officer.
Do I understand that correct?
Yes.
Did ESU have command officers in the command center?
That was asked earlier, and like I said, I received a briefing that my understanding was that there were Butler County representatives in the command post, but I cannot definitively tell you from any briefings that I've had who and when they were there.
Do you have any insight why the Butler ESU officers transmitted that information to a PSP representative rather than to a Butler ESU representative in the command center?
I understand that there was a The Butler-ESU person from whom it came and the PSP member to whom it was sent, they essentially knew one another.
Was there any mechanism in place To monitor the location presence of the ESU officers who were at the second floor window and departed from there to go look for crooks.
Was that any kind of communication ongoing in the command center about that?
I don't know.
All right.
Is that a regular practice in PSP operations to have someone monitoring the location presence, posting, absence from posts of members of your force?
I would say in general, you need to know where your assets are deployed, but I would also say, depending on what the prior rules of engagement are, there may be a situation that could realistically, outside of the example we're discussing today, that we would expect our people to make a decision in the immediate that we would expect our people to make a decision in the immediate moment to All right.
I yield back and recognize the gentleman from California, Mr.
Correa, for five minutes.
Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
Again, gentlemen, thank you for being here.
Something Mr.
Lalota said that I want to emphasize and underline, which is Gentlemen, I hope you lean forward when it comes to making decisions, making what your gut tells you is the right decision when you're out there trying to protect American lives, especially those of candidates.
The situation is an interesting one because in this committee, we have been talking about domestic terrorism as being a bigger threat to the United States than foreign terrorism.
And I would imagine, based on the facts that we know him today, this is a domestic individual that God knows what motivated him to do what he's doing.
He was looking up information according to what I've read.
He was looking up both Democrat and Republican candidates.
God knows what set him off or where he was going.
Or what targets he was really focused on, other than possibly the opportunity.
This is not good news because this is essentially a lone wolf, it would appear.
It just...
God knows what motivated him.
And I'm bringing this up because, Mr.
Yost, you represent thousands of police officers in this country.
A lot of them doing the job to the best of their abilities.
And yet, these are challenges that are very hard to take on.
How do you...
I mean, based on what your officers say out there, what is it that we can do to make your job better?
What is it that we can do to begin to get a grip on these lone wolf attacks that are domestically motivated and grown?
Sir, I'm not too sure.
I have an easy answer for you on that one.
I will tell you that we live in extraordinary times right now where we've gone from talking to people to talking at people.
And I think what you see over a period of time, this has eroded to a part where...
Guys, I'm going to go to fucking sleep.
This guy, these dudes, number one, they're dragging this.
The state police guy doesn't have answers for anything real.
It's like, bro, you got to talk to the fucking FBI. We need to talk to the FBI. We got to know what the hell's going on in the investigation.
That's going to be what really happens.
So that's what I want to see.
Guys, do me a favor.
Go like the video on YouTube.
Alright, I'm on the stream there.
Just gave you guys a bonus one, dude.
I'm fucking still haven't slept yet.
I'm a little bit delirious.
It's 2.26 in the afternoon.
I haven't slept since last night.
But I'll definitely do an episode when the FBI comes in.
I'm going to live stream that.
So stay tuned, guys.
We'll cover this hearing because they're going to be interviewing a bunch of people.
Love y'all ninjas.
We'll be back on FedReacts maybe this week.
Maybe this week.
And love you guys.
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