On Tuesday, July 24, Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner, Colonel Christopher Paris, testified before the House Committee on Homeland Security. I watched all 4 hours. Here are some important takeaways.
1) Unlike the hearing with Cheatle the day before, Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner, Colonel Christopher Paris was very candid and did his best to answer every single question posed to him.
2) Two members of the Butler ESU taskforce were given the responsibility by the Secret Service to man the inside of the building and the window directly behind and overlooking the roof of the building where the assassin took his shots.
3) Butler ESU was described as a multi-organization task force. No names were given.
4) The two members of the Butler ESU who had overwatch of the building where the assassin took his shots left their post prior to and during the assassination attempt. At the time of the assassination attempt that post was empty.
5) Col. Paris testified that he was briefed that the reason the two Butler ESU officers left their post was to look for the assassin who at that time was still roving the grounds. They left their post approximately 20 to 25 minutes before the assassination. Presumably, they did not return.
6) Col. Paris did not know if the Secret Service asked the two Butler ESU agents to leave their post or if they did that on their own.
7) Col. Paris made it clear that they have requested the Secret Service’s overall plan for the event but have not received it from the Secret Service. Several committee members asked if the Secret Service denied giving it to them and Paris said “No we were not denied. We asked for it and have yet to receive it”. One member of the committee commented that Congress asks for things all the time and they never get refused but they never get them either.
8) Col. Paris testified that the overall plan from the Secret Service which they had not received would have outlined if Butler ESU was allowed to leave their post on their own or if they needed Secret Service permission. It would have the operating expectations and procedures for each agency. However, he said, ultimately the buck stops with the Secret Service.
9) Using Google, I was unable to find a website for Butler ESU or any real information including who oversees the task force.
10) A picture of the assassin was taken 62 minutes before the assassination attempt by Butler ESU. At that time he was deemed suspicious. There were 3 others also deemed suspicious for a total of 4 people. Presumably, the other 3 were ruled out as suspicious at some point as they were not mentioned moving forward.
11) The picture of the assassin was sent via text message to a member of the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) who was inside the Secret Service command post. That member of the PSP then relayed that information to the Secret Service (by literally turning around and showing it to the Secret Service inside the command post) who told the PSP person to text the information to a phone number. The phone number was a secret service phone number but Col. Paris did not know much more about the number. He did say that was the first time in all the years he has worked with the Secret Service that type of request to send the information to a phone number was given.
12) There was a member of the Butler ESU in the command center but Col. Paris did not know who that was or how long they were there, implying he did not know if someone from Butler ESU was in the command center at the time the text message of the assassin was sent to PSP. Col. Paris did testify that in his opinion at least one person from each agency should have been in the Secret Service command center to facilitate communication between the agencies since they were on different channels. He didn’t know if that actually happened.
13) Each agency was on a different channel because if there are too many people on one channel and everyone keys their mike at the same time, it makes a mess of communication.
14) Morgan Luttrell, suggested a dedicated channel where any agency could declare a “no joy” which would initiate a hold of the president from taking the stage or would have caused the Secret Service to be rushed from the stage. Col. Paris kept repeating that he does not know why the Secret Service does what it does but he defers to their experience. Col. Paris did say the Secret Service coms are encrypted and most likely would not work with other agency coms.
15) It was asked why the Butler ESU texted the picture of the assassin to PSP and not to Butler ESU. The answer was the Butler ESU knew the PSP officer who was in the command post. It was said in a way that implied they were friends or somehow knew each other prior to this event. It was also implied that it might have been done because there might not have been a member of Butler ESU in the communications command post.
16) Col. Paris first testified the officers who climbed up to the roof and for which the assassin pointed their gun at one of them were not the same as the two Butler ESU guys who abandoned their post to look for the assassin. They were local Butler police. The officer was dangling from the roof after he was boosted up by his partner and was not in a position to draw his weapon so he dropped down to prevent getting shot in the head.
I wonder why these officers could not find the same air-conditioning unit the assassin used to gain access.
17) Members of the committee testified that they were told on Monday when they visited Butler that the two agents in the building behind where the assassin took their shots and who later abandoned their post were supposed to be ON the roof but left because it was too hot.
18) It was unclear if that was true as Col. Paris had no knowledge of that. He also testified that he was not aware if Butler ESU could make the decision it was too hot on their own and relocate or if they needed permission from the Secret Service.
19) Eli Crane, asked if the PSP searched the home of the assassin. The answer was yes. Crane then stated he heard that the home was cleaned out almost like a clean room. No silverware, garbage, etc. He asked Col. Paris if he was aware of that and the answer was no.
20) Eric Swalwell, used his 5 minutes to rant about how “violence is never the answer” and then only asked Col. Paris how many guns were inside the rally that were not from law enforcement. The answer of course was zero. Swalwell then asked how many total guns were there at the rally carried by law enforcement. The answer was of course unknown since Col. Paris did not know the total number of law enforcement personnel. Swalwell left the meeting right after his turn. Swalwell was the 4th to ask questions so he left very early.
21) Democrat Lou Correa also pontificated for his 5 minutes and only asked the irrelevant question if the officers from PSP were paid for being there. Was an absolute stupid and irrelevant question.
22) There were some good questions by lower-ranking democrats though. Democrat Seth Magaziner asked if it was normal to have such a small perimeter around an outside event. Col. Paris kept testifying that his officers were only supposed to be INSIDE The perimeter (except two patrol cars that were on the streets). The rest of the officers outside the perimeter were Butler ESU and local police. So Magaziner wanted to know if it was standard to have the perimeter so small and to leave problematic structures outside the perimeter.
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