PA State Police Colonel Joins Smoke & Mirror Show

Laurel & Hardy join Abbott & Costello in trying to ascertain who's on the roof.

Perplexity: Col. Christopher Paris.

Every now and then an incident happens that reveals a stunning reality—namely, that federal and state governments, with all of their vast bureaucracies, bloated budgets, and power to regulate law abiding citizens, are either unable or unwilling to carry out the simplest of critical tasks.

Yesterday’s Congressional testimony of Colonel Christopher Paris before the House Homeland Security Committee was just such an incident. Amid all the talk of “interoperability and communications,” “command sites,” “redundancy in operations plan,” “snipers,” and occasional references to military culture, Colonel Paris joined the growing number of ranking law officers who cannot answer the simple question:

Why wasn’t a single police officer or Secret Service agent assigned to secure the rooftop 400 feet from the stage, with a clear line of sight?

Two key details emerged from Colonel Paris’s testimony:

• “We were told that Butler E.S.U. [Emergency Services Unit] was responsible for that area, by several Secret Service agents on that walk-through.

• Colonel Paris’s testimony contradicted that of Butler County district attorney, Richard Goldinger, who earlier claimed that building and roof were the responsibility of the Secret Service.

One of the weirdest exchanges was that between Rep. Bishop and Colonel Paris regarding the building with windows, just behind the roof on which Crooks fired.

Rep. Bishop asked: 

“How many ESU officers were posted to that second-floor window?” 

Col. Paris answered: 

“So, I am aware two were in the building, but again, I have not seen the Secret Service operations plan.” 

Rep. Bishop continued: 

“You say in the building—were they in a window [looking] out onto the scene?” 

Col. Paris answered:

“From briefings that I have been given, I was told they were in a window, yes sir.”
 
Rep. Bishop continued:
 
“Did they remain on post?”
 
Col. Paris answered:
 
“I was told that at a certain point, they began searching along with other local officers. In the immediacy before––after Crooks had been identified as suspicious by them–”
 
Rep. Bishop continued:
 
“By them?”

Col. Paris answered: 

“My understanding is that they identified Crooks for not matriculating, to my knowledge, Crooks never made it through the secure perimeter into the venue space itself. He was identified by those members as suspicious, in part, because of that. And at some point he produced the range finder which heighted that suspicion.” 

Rep. Bishop asked: 

“So, Representative Crane took a video on site yesterday. I’d like staff to put that up, it’s very short, just a few seconds, if they can do that. If I understand correctly, this is from the second-story window of the AGR building. You see that window comes out from the sash and swings out to the right. There’s an aerial photo right after Crooks was killed, where Crook’s body is on the roof and that window was open. Was it from this vantage point that those ESU officers spotted Crooks?” 

Col. Paris answered: 

“I don’t know that particular window, but my understanding is a second-story window was where he was initially spotted.” 

Rep. Bishop asked: 

“So are you saying that, to your knowledge, those ESU officers left the location where they could look out the window to go in search of this person?” 

Col. Paris answered: 

“That is my understanding.”

If a brilliant Hollywood screenwriter wanted to tell a story about the catastrophic absurdity of the the state, he wouldn’t dare make up such an exchange out of concern it would seem hyperbolic and burlesque.

All of this would be a grotesque joke if it weren’t for the death of Corey Comperatore. It seems to me that his family would be well within their rights to sue the PA State Police and the Secret Service for gross negligence.