On Tuesday, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) questioned Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Officials on the position of the shooter at the Trump Rally in Butler.
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NewsTranscript
00:00The gentleman yields. I now recognize Chairman McCaul for five minutes of questioning.
00:04Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you for the site visit
00:08that we had at Butler, Pennsylvania yesterday. It was very eye-opening, educational.
00:15I agree with the Ranking Member's comments in terms of, you know, after 9-11, connecting the dots
00:25in federal, state, and local. Working together was the answer. I led a joint terrorism task force
00:32when I worked at the Department of Justice, and I also was involved in national security events,
00:37so I kind of know how these things operate. My question is to Colonel Parris.
00:45It's standard practice that the lead federal agency will come in and meet with the state and
00:50locals regarding the security plan before the event, prior to the event.
00:56Sir, did you participate, or did your department participate in that?
01:01So, I did not participate. As I stated earlier, there were two commanders dedicated to those
01:09two primary roles, the motorcade and the staffing of the posts on site within the secure perimeter,
01:16as well as a state police area commander. So, just as a way of background, our area commander
01:21that covers multiple troops in that area of the state, out of nearly 5,000 troopers, there are
01:27only four area commanders. So, that major was present for the walkthrough on the 11th.
01:33And were your troopers assigned inside the perimeter or outside?
01:37Inside, sir.
01:38Inside, and was the outside within the jurisdiction of the local police?
01:42So, just as a point of clarification, there were two, on the operations plan, there were two
01:47marked cars that were assigned roving duties, which would primarily, as the name implies,
01:52be outside of the secure perimeter on roadways, responding to incidents that
01:56potentially could occur as a result of a congregation of that many people.
02:00So, we saw, we walked into, we actually walked onto the roof where the sniper was.
02:06A clear eyes-on, clear shot of the president. A tree blocked the Secret Service's view.
02:15This kid did some investigation. He had a drone out there days prior,
02:20got an aerial surveillance of the premises, and that position was probably the best position
02:27outside the perimeter, as far as I could tell. There was also a water tower.
02:32That would have been a perfect spot for Secret Service.
02:35Were you aware of any presence of Secret Service in this water tower?
02:38I was not.
02:40And you're aware of what I'm talking about?
02:42I am familiar. I physically flew out there on Saturday the 13th.
02:47It was still very much an active crime scene, so I did not walk the roofs, but I did.
02:51On the adjacent building, we got a tour of that as well,
02:55where I believe the local police were positioned.
02:59There were three windows. The first one had a plain view of where the sniper would be.
03:04However, they were stationed in the second and third windows.
03:08Are you familiar with this at all?
03:09I am not, from the standpoint that I have not seen the Secret Service's operations plan,
03:15and our deference would be to them to assign Butler ESU, according to them.
03:20They were apparently local counter-snipers.
03:23Uh, do you know if they should have been assigned to the rooftop?
03:29I would defer to the, there are many ways that you can cover.
03:33Obviously, positioning people on the rooftop would be one of those.
03:37No, and I, you know, going to the actual site, way too close.
03:42He should never have been allowed to get on top of that building,
03:45and I don't know how, and I know he's on your radar inside the perimeter.
03:50You seem to have lost him, and somehow he finds his way up to the rooftop
03:56unimpeded until a local law enforcement officer crawls on top of the roof and looks at him,
04:03and he points his AR-15 at him.
04:05My question to you is, do you, what was the communication like that day?
04:09Typically, Secret Service has one channel for them, the other channel for state and locals.
04:14Was there any communication to identify, hey, this is not a local
04:19police officer, this is, in fact, an unidentified individual on the rooftop.
04:24Was that communicated to the Secret Service?
04:26So, my belief, as I sit here today, is that we did have integrated communications from members
04:33that were inside of the Secret Service command post.
04:36Completely deferential to the ongoing nature of the investigation.
04:41I have an understanding of a sequence of events, but I would like to draw a distinction between
04:47a sequence of events, meaning...
04:48So, my theory is that they thought maybe he was an officer, but then they find out he's not.
04:54The thing I find interesting is that the counter-sniper Secret Service,
04:59within seconds of the shots on the president, kills a suspect.
05:03That tells me he had him in his sights.
05:06Maybe he's not aware of who the individual was, was not identified,
05:09but I know within seconds after the shots were fired at the president, the threat was eliminated.
05:17You know, lastly, I just want to end with this.
05:20This was actually astonishing, and I want to get your confirmation.
05:25He had a detonation device with him, and two of his bombs were located in his car
05:33that was parked on the other side of the perimeter.
05:37Seems to me a good theory would be that he was going to kill the president
05:42and then detonate his car, causing a diversion, and then escape from the crime scene.
05:48Are you aware of any of this?
05:49I am aware of the presence of the device on his person.
05:53We were aware of that very early on, and that was a serious tactical consideration
05:59in the hours, in the immediate aftermath, as we worked that crime scene.
06:04But to your point about his ultimate theory,
06:07or what his ultimate motivation was, that remains under investigation.
06:11And he had a rangefinder on him as well.
06:13That's a big red flag.
06:14I yield back.
06:16Gentleman yields.
06:18I now recognize the gentleman from California.