Transcripts For CSPAN3 1981 Assassination Attempt On Preside

President this night event 90 minute event held at the same hilton hotel in washington, d. C. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome. My name is craig. And the president and ceo of the National Law Enforcement officers Memorial Fund. Tonight, on behalf of the board of directors, we are pleased to present our 16 witness to history program. This is a series of programs we do where we invite the actual participants of historical Law Enforcement events to tell us their stories. It has been fascinating. Every event we have done, we film them and they will be a permanent part of the Museum Archives, and we couldnt be prouder of the content we had assembled and compiled so far. Tonights event will explore the assassination attempt on president Ronald Reagan 26 years ago. 26 years ago on march 30, one week or so ago. Before we begin, i want to acknowledge and thank our partner and very proud sponsor of our witness to history series. They have been a longtime partner of the Memorial Fund and supported us in so many ways. That is target. There distinguished representatives are here tonight. George richards and mahogany eller. Where are they . Thank you both. [applause] craig i also want to thank our friends here at the washington hilton hotel. This is a very special place, obviously, as a relates to tonights event. Truly a unique opportunity to talk about a historic moment at the place that the assassination attempt actually occurred. Of course, i want to thank all of our guests who have turned out here tonight. This is one of our largest audiences we have had for these witness to history events. I want to point out tonights event is being streamed live on facebook. As we have done the last couple of events. It is being filmed by the Memorial Fund and our National Law Enforcement museum so it can be a permanent part of our Museum Archives for the benefit of future generations. Tonight, we are pleased to have back with us, they have filmed many of these events of the past, that is the American History television, cspan3. You can find it on your television. It airs on weekends. You can check their website, the cspan website, for specific dates and times. It also airs on the internet. You can find a couple of different ways. It should be airing very soon. We will also have this event on our Memorial Fund website in the future. You go to lawenforcementmuseum. Org and see the entire presentation from beginning to end. For those of you who may not be familiar with the Memorial Fund or National Law Enforcement museum, i want to offer a brief introduction into who we are and what we do. Founded in 1984, we build and now operate the National Law Enforcement officers memorial. That is located in Judiciary Square in the 400 block of east street northwest washington. E street northwest washington. This National Monument was dedicated in 1991 and honors the Extraordinary Service and sacrifice of americas policing professionals. It bears the names of nearly 21,000 officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice dating back to the first death in 1791. The memorial now includes the names of 29 members of the United States secret service, dating back to the first death in 1902. That was u. S. Secret Service Operative william crank, struck and killed by a trolley car while protecting president Theodore Roosevelt in massachusetts. Sadly, new names are added each year in our candlelight vigil on may 13. All of you are invited to attend this years event, at 8 p. M. On the national mall, saturday, may 13. This year, we will be dedicating 394 new names to the memorial , including 143 Law Enforcement Fallen Heroes from 2016, among the Law Enforcement heroes from the past is names will be added, including secret Service Assistant special agent in charge james collins, who suffered a heart attack while on duty in 1992. We are also a leader in promoting officer safety and wellness. As our chairman, former u. S. Attorney general John Ashcroft likes to say there is no better way to honor the fallen them to stop the falling. Despite our successes, much work is needed in this area. Last year, 65 officers were shot to death. 21 of them in ambush style attacks. For the last two decades, we have been working on a determined effort to build the first ever congressionally authorized museum to tell the story of american Law Enforcement. Construction on the museum commenced a year ago and is scheduled to open in the fall of 2018. It is located in the 400 block of e street northwest across the street from the national memorial. This largely Experiential Museum will allow visitors to walk in the shoes of the Law Enforcement officer through hightech interactive exhibitions, our missions is to tell the story of american Law Enforcement, to strengthen the bond between the officers and the public that they serve and protect. For more information about the National Law Enforcement museum and to follow its progress toward opening, go to our website located at lawenforcementmuseuem. Org. You can sign up or the monthly newsletter, we call it the insider. For tonights program, we go back to march 30, 1981. President Ronald Reagan was newly inaugurated and speaking at a meeting of the aflcio at the washington hilton. It was a routine day for the President Secret Service special agents, the president ial protective division, who had been at the hilton many times before. On that day, John Hinckley junior attempted to assassinate the president in an effort to draw the attention of actress jodie foster. Due to quick and effective actions of many Law Enforcement professionals, including our three panelists, the president was rushed to George Washington University Hospital where the doctors were able to save his life and John Hinckley junior was captured and arrested. Tonight, we will get to hear from two former secret Service Agents who were there, one we took a bullet for president reagan, and one former fbi agent who led the subsequent investigation. And now the story of the assassination attempt on president Ronald Reagan, shooting that shocked our nation, an investigation and aftermath that followed, and the changes that occurred in president ial production as a protection as a result of this historic event. At this time, i would like to turn the program over to the moderator, tom sherwood. For those of us from the area, we know tom is a veteran journalist and longtime picture at nbc 4 television, specializing in politics and government. Hes a resident guest analyst every friday on wamus politics our, and is the coauthor of dream city race, power, and the decline of washington dc. Please join me in welcoming tom. He will introduce us to our panelists. It is all yours. [applause] tom the new title of the second edition is race, power, and the revival of washington dc. [laughter] it came out 20 years later and took that long. Thank you. I want to thank all the organizers. And i want to thank the audience for being here. It is important we learn from history, whether we agree on it or not. I never ask to turn off cell phones, but if your phone rings, you have to stand up, put it on speaker, and then answer it. [laughter] tonight, we are going to talk for a while about the events of march 1, 1981. I heard yours ringing. That is before i set the rule. I going to guide the questions to get the discussion going. You can see personal reactions. We all know the outlines from history. We will take questions. We are not expecting the monologues for either the people asking the questions or from the panelists. Lets set the stage for march, 1981. On march 6, 1981, Walter Cronkite left for the cbs news and then dan rather took over. In march of 1981 the price of a firstclass stamp went up from . 15 to . 18. On march 9, 1981, the First Successful heartlung transplant occurred at stanford university. And on march 7, 1981 in denver, colorado, worried parents confronted their son, and on the advice of a psychiatrist, gave their son a couple hundred dollars, and said, you are on your own. That young man was John Hinckley. Lets welcome the panelists. Former secret Service Agent tim mccarthy to my immediate right. [applause] former secret Service Agent danny spragues. [applause] former fbi agent tom baker. [applause] there will be no jurisdiction or disputes tonight. [laughter] as you heard, on march 30, president reagan came to the washington hilton to address a trades convention luncheon. He was in the big ballroom down from here. The last words of his speech, as he was leaving, he asked union guys to work with him so that he could make America Great again. [laughter] a lot of people dont know that. They do now. When the president was speaking we will move this back so people will not have to watch the podium. Can it be moved . Im going to sit, but then these people cant see because of this. We will take one moment and i will ask the question again because i forgot it. [applause] tom when the president was giving the speech, where were you . I think i was stage left. During the speech. We were briefed at the white house of the positions and formations, motorcade routes, primary, secondary, hospital routes, primary and secondary, safe rooms, things of that nature. The itinerary is always done over before leaving the white house. We know our assignments before we went through the event , arriving down the elevator, because the ballrooms are on the lower level. After that, we referred to as a grip and grin when the president would shake hands with the vips from the trade unions. The speech ended and when we came back, some of us came up the stairs, and we exited the hilton hotel. Tom did you listen to the speech . No . I know the agents dont really. [laughter] mr. Baker . Where were you . Actually, on that day, i was not assigned to the protective division, i was assigned to the Washington Field office. The Washington Field Office Supplies all the manpower and resources whenever the president or Vice President has a visit within the city, as well as heads of state. My assignment from the Washington Field office i would was assigned as the with the intelligence team. My duty actually was too ahead of time notified when we are notified of the visit, use Due Diligence to identify individuals or groups, or anything that might pose a threat to the president. During the time of the speech, i was in the ballroom, but i was more conscious of where the people were posted to see if there were any problems. Tom and mr. Baker, you were assigned to the Washington Field office for the fbi. What were you initially doing that morning before the luncheon . Dont forget our guest over there. We want to make eye contact with them. When the collection plate goes around. In answer to your question, i can note one thing. It was somewhat unique at that moment, it had an impact throughout the day, the director of the fbi was out of town. He was in williamsburg, virginia for the first of what would become annual meetings with special agents in charge. The special agent in charge of the Washington Field was also with the director out of town. In those days, there were two assistant agents in charge. I was actually in my car just leaving a meeting at fbi headquarters, entering onto the street when the commercial radio , wmal, broadcasted that the president had just been shot in front of the hilton. That was almost exactly at 2 30. Tom we heard a lot about the moment the president walked onto t street. To the side of the hotel. Mr. Sprigs and mr. Mccarthy, six shots rang out. Mr. Mccarthy, you were wounded. What were your immediate reactions . Somebody said something about how you immediately took a pose to protect the president. Tell us the initial seconds. What were you doing and thinking . Im going to take one second before we get there to recognize our boss, who passed away recently. [applause] tom he wrote a good book. He wrote a good book. God bless him. I forget the question. [laughter] tom we will remember that. The immediate reaction. You have training. You are trained to do things without thinking. But you also think about whats going on. Tell us the heart pounding moment, what was it like . I did not think. It was a reaction to training. We trained very intensely at the secret service and president ial protective division. The only thing you can do is reaction based upon training. Much like the military going up the hill, or Police Officers going down a dark alley, it is based upon training. I cant say that i could think about it because it happened quickly. It was over in 1. 4 seconds, six shots. It was a reaction based on training. I would like to say i thought about it, but i really didnt. I reacted the way we were trained to react. I am very happy i was able to do it. Based upon my training. I do not know if i could do it again and do not want to find out. Tom we saw during the president ial campaign when President Trump was speaking, someone broke through the, area and suddenly there were four or five agents around him in a heartbeat. Cover and evacuate. There are several techniques in the secret service they are pounded into you in training and several exercises to cover and evacuate the president. In many cases if the threat is in arm reach, you go for the threat. If it is not, and you want a diversion, you can divert an agent out the hallway. There are two things you train for. It is called aop, attack on a principle or protecting. That is to cover and evacuate a president , or in arms reach, reach for the attacker. If the weapon is that close. Tom no time to think. Mr. Sprigs, the moment you heard shots, where were you . Were you walking out . I had just proceeded to detail the agent assigned to the president on to t street. Tim is absolutely right. There is no way an individual starts thinking in 1. 4 seconds. Muscle memory comes into play. But i will note that even though you cant think in that amount of time and everything is instinctive, you are anticipating what if . Now that we are out on a public venue, what if something did happen . The response you saw from tim, jerry, and the other agents, was basically the idea that what if something happens, what am i going to do . That was my reaction. When i heard the shots, i went to my weapon. I recognized shots had gone off. I only had seconds to determine where the shots were coming from. By that time, we saw the smoke from the weapon, we saw individuals moving for the potential assailant. So, even though you dont have time to think, you are anticipating what if, and are you going to be able to respond based on training . Tom and mr. Mccarthy, you were shot in the side. Shot in the chest. Tom the media never gets it right. Walter cronkite had it wrong. I can tell you about that later. Tom you were wounded. Had you been wounded before in the line of duty . I had cuts and bruises, but never anything like that. My father was a chicago policeman, so its not like i didnt know this was a fulltime contact sport. Tom when did you realize you were shot . About the time i hit the ground. [laughter] i forgot why i was there. I saw little blood on my shirt. I heard the gunshots and then it didnt take much to put two and two together. Tom someone told me there was concern you were going to be will run over by the president ial limousine. The number one thing is to get the president out, and you were on the ground. Was that a media misrepresentation . I hope so. [laughter] tom you went to the hospital, also. Yes. Jim brady and the president and i went to George Washington hospital. Other officers went to washington metro. That is the protocol, washington, d. C. Officers went there. We were there any different emergency rooms. Tom and you went and an ambulance came to get you . Yes. In the secret service, the training we go through you are assigned to protect the president. The agents on the detail go with the president. They dont stay around to help the wounded as worthy of cause that is, to be a humanitarian. It is to be with the president. One doesnt know if this is a diversion, and there could be an attack in another spot. They left but other agents came and took my radio and weapon and waited until an ambulance arrived to take me to the hospital. Tom mr. Baker, you turned and went to the hotel, driving the speed limit [laughter] you get there, and one of the things so unique about this, is that the public and the media were way too close to where the president was, and mr. Kessler writes in his book, he says the secret Service Wan