This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.

• Outdoor columnist Ben Smith says keep your eyes peeled for fawns while out and about to protect the future of deer hunting in the Magnolia State.

For most deer hunters in Mississippi the absolute best time of the year is the rut. I know guys that will take off of work for two weeks during peak rut times in their hunting areas. After all, the rut is generally your best chance at catching a mature buck slipping after having been so careful during the earlier part of the season. But I’m not here to talk about the rut today. I want to talk about the effects of the rut and how it correlates with what’s going on right now.

A magical process begins in the winter months when does go into estrus. The bucks break off from their bachelor groups and go solo competing for the nearest hot doe. I can hear Elton John’s “The Circle of Life” playing in my mind as I type this. The does are bred, starting the next cycle of the process. The gestation period for a whitetail deer is around two hundred days, meaning that this time of the year is a busy one. If you find a newborn fawn, you can backdate it to get a very good indication of when the mother was bred.

The first couple of weeks of July is peak fawning season for most of Mississippi. The winter rut finally comes to fruition. Before we continue, let it be known that different areas of the state will have different peak fawning periods. Our counties to the north will obviously run earlier than those on the coast due to the rut calendar. I know a lot of people that deny the rut calendar, and it’s not a perfect science, but it’s remarkably close. There are also the deviations that we need to keep in mind. Not all does go into estrus at the same time, and some take longer to be bred. If you remember, just last season I had pictures of a still pregnant doe in October. That was a great example of a deviation. It happens, but it still doesn’t dispel the rut calendar.

Also, a late summer fawn could mean a couple of different things. One, it could mean the mother was bred during her second estrus cycle which could be an indication of a poor buck to doe ratio. Second, it could mean that the mother is one of last year’s fawns meaning you have great forage opportunities for your deer herd.

Nature is obviously incredible. Fawns will be born in the perfect time of the year that is most conducive for their survival. Right now, our natural vegetation is at peak growth providing the necessary cover for does to hide their babies. That vegetation will also provide the nutrients necessary for the does to have best nutrition possible to care for their young. There’s also plenty of time between now and the first frost for the newborn fawns to bulk up enough to survive the winter months.

Since I mentioned vegetation as thick cover for fawns, I feel like we should get something straight. Oftentimes does will hide their fawns in thick grasses while they go out to replenish their own nutritional needs. These fawns are pretty vulnerable during this time. I’ve heard so many stories on what to do should you encounter a newborn fawn. Some will say if the ears look crimped that it means the fawn is dehydrated and has been left by its mother. Given this situation, it’s often said that you should move the fawn and attempt to help it. This is absolutely 100% not accurate.

If you encounter a fawn the best thing you can do is to leave it alone. Don’t touch it, don’t attempt to move it, and don’t hang around waiting to see if the momma comes back. If you’re there I can pretty much assure you that the momma isn’t going to walk up and thank you for finding her baby. She’s going to associate you with danger and that puts the fawn in danger of not getting the nourishment it needs. Once again just so we are clear, don’t touch the fawn, no matter what some hippie do-gooder tries to tell you on the internet.

Unfortunately, fawns being hidden in grassy areas often meet their demise at the hands of human encroachment. Peak fawning season also coincides with peak bushhogging season. This is the time of the year that many hunters are trying to maintain their properties and making preparations for the upcoming hunting season. I’ve seen several fawns killed by tractors bushhogging existing food plots or cutting hay. It’s often unavoidable and just flat out stinks when it happens.

If possible, it’s best to try and keep your food plots and other areas trimmed low ahead of fawning season to avoid this. In the event that you absolutely have to move a fawn to keep it from getting killed, quickly move it to a shady area very nearby. Contrary to beliefs, a fawn that’s been touched will not keep the mother from coming back to it, but this should only be done in times where it’s absolutely necessary for the survival of the fawn.

I know it’s hotter than a billy goat with a blow torch outside, but we’ve only got about 80 days until archery season arrives for most of Mississippi. And yeah, it will still be hot when it gets here, but frosty mornings and taco soup evenings aren’t that far away. Until then, keep your eyes peeled for fawns while out and about on your property and let’s protect the future of our sport by giving them their space.

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Read original article by clicking here.

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.

• Outdoor columnist Ben Smith says keep your eyes peeled for fawns while out and about to protect the future of deer hunting in the Magnolia State.

For most deer hunters in Mississippi the absolute best time of the year is the rut. I know guys that will take off of work for two weeks during peak rut times in their hunting areas. After all, the rut is generally your best chance at catching a mature buck slipping after having been so careful during the earlier part of the season. But I’m not here to talk about the rut today. I want to talk about the effects of the rut and how it correlates with what’s going on right now.

A magical process begins in the winter months when does go into estrus. The bucks break off from their bachelor groups and go solo competing for the nearest hot doe. I can hear Elton John’s “The Circle of Life” playing in my mind as I type this. The does are bred, starting the next cycle of the process. The gestation period for a whitetail deer is around two hundred days, meaning that this time of the year is a busy one. If you find a newborn fawn, you can backdate it to get a very good indication of when the mother was bred.

The first couple of weeks of July is peak fawning season for most of Mississippi. The winter rut finally comes to fruition. Before we continue, let it be known that different areas of the state will have different peak fawning periods. Our counties to the north will obviously run earlier than those on the coast due to the rut calendar. I know a lot of people that deny the rut calendar, and it’s not a perfect science, but it’s remarkably close. There are also the deviations that we need to keep in mind. Not all does go into estrus at the same time, and some take longer to be bred. If you remember, just last season I had pictures of a still pregnant doe in October. That was a great example of a deviation. It happens, but it still doesn’t dispel the rut calendar.

Also, a late summer fawn could mean a couple of different things. One, it could mean the mother was bred during her second estrus cycle which could be an indication of a poor buck to doe ratio. Second, it could mean that the mother is one of last year’s fawns meaning you have great forage opportunities for your deer herd.

Nature is obviously incredible. Fawns will be born in the perfect time of the year that is most conducive for their survival. Right now, our natural vegetation is at peak growth providing the necessary cover for does to hide their babies. That vegetation will also provide the nutrients necessary for the does to have best nutrition possible to care for their young. There’s also plenty of time between now and the first frost for the newborn fawns to bulk up enough to survive the winter months.

Since I mentioned vegetation as thick cover for fawns, I feel like we should get something straight. Oftentimes does will hide their fawns in thick grasses while they go out to replenish their own nutritional needs. These fawns are pretty vulnerable during this time. I’ve heard so many stories on what to do should you encounter a newborn fawn. Some will say if the ears look crimped that it means the fawn is dehydrated and has been left by its mother. Given this situation, it’s often said that you should move the fawn and attempt to help it. This is absolutely 100% not accurate.

If you encounter a fawn the best thing you can do is to leave it alone. Don’t touch it, don’t attempt to move it, and don’t hang around waiting to see if the momma comes back. If you’re there I can pretty much assure you that the momma isn’t going to walk up and thank you for finding her baby. She’s going to associate you with danger and that puts the fawn in danger of not getting the nourishment it needs. Once again just so we are clear, don’t touch the fawn, no matter what some hippie do-gooder tries to tell you on the internet.

Unfortunately, fawns being hidden in grassy areas often meet their demise at the hands of human encroachment. Peak fawning season also coincides with peak bushhogging season. This is the time of the year that many hunters are trying to maintain their properties and making preparations for the upcoming hunting season. I’ve seen several fawns killed by tractors bushhogging existing food plots or cutting hay. It’s often unavoidable and just flat out stinks when it happens.

If possible, it’s best to try and keep your food plots and other areas trimmed low ahead of fawning season to avoid this. In the event that you absolutely have to move a fawn to keep it from getting killed, quickly move it to a shady area very nearby. Contrary to beliefs, a fawn that’s been touched will not keep the mother from coming back to it, but this should only be done in times where it’s absolutely necessary for the survival of the fawn.

I know it’s hotter than a billy goat with a blow torch outside, but we’ve only got about 80 days until archery season arrives for most of Mississippi. And yeah, it will still be hot when it gets here, but frosty mornings and taco soup evenings aren’t that far away. Until then, keep your eyes peeled for fawns while out and about on your property and let’s protect the future of our sport by giving them their space.

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Read original article by clicking here.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Ashley Furniture Industries plans an $80 million expansion at its two facilities in Mississippi’s Lee County, creating at least 500 new jobs as a result.

The Mississippi Development Authority said Wednesday the project will expand Ashley’s foam and mattress production in Verona through the purchase and renovation of a neighboring facility and the construction of a new one. The company also plans to expand operations in Saltillo, currently the country’s largest mattress plant, with a substantial investment in equipment and operations, the agency said.

“This strategic investment reinforces our commitment to growth and allows us to better serve our customers. By expanding our capabilities in Mississippi, we are creating more job opportunities and strengthening our presence in the region,” said Ashley CEO and President Todd Wanek in a news release.

“Ashley Furniture is already one of Mississippi’s most well-known job creators,” Gov. Tate Reeves said. “As the world’s largest manufacturer of home furnishings, Ashley’s historic commitment to Mississippi is a major boon for our entire state. … This fantastic project only further highlights Mississippi’s global reputation as a destination for business and manufacturing.”

Ashley, the largest manufacturer of home furnishings in the world, said the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

Read original article by clicking here.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Ashley Furniture Industries plans an $80 million expansion at its two facilities in Mississippi’s Lee County, creating at least 500 new jobs as a result.

The Mississippi Development Authority said Wednesday the project will expand Ashley’s foam and mattress production in Verona through the purchase and renovation of a neighboring facility and the construction of a new one. The company also plans to expand operations in Saltillo, currently the country’s largest mattress plant, with a substantial investment in equipment and operations, the agency said.

“This strategic investment reinforces our commitment to growth and allows us to better serve our customers. By expanding our capabilities in Mississippi, we are creating more job opportunities and strengthening our presence in the region,” said Ashley CEO and President Todd Wanek in a news release.

“Ashley Furniture is already one of Mississippi’s most well-known job creators,” Gov. Tate Reeves said. “As the world’s largest manufacturer of home furnishings, Ashley’s historic commitment to Mississippi is a major boon for our entire state. … This fantastic project only further highlights Mississippi’s global reputation as a destination for business and manufacturing.”

Ashley, the largest manufacturer of home furnishings in the world, said the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

Read original article by clicking here.

The Mississippi Legislature must adopt new state Senate and House maps with Black-majority districts during its 2025 session and conduct elections to fill those new seats, a federal three-judge panel ruled on Thursday. 

The judges previously ruled in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the Mississippi Conference of the NAACP and Black voters from across the state that the districts that were drawn in 2022 by the state Legislature diluted Black voting strength.

After its ruling, the panel invited the plaintiffs and state officials to submit briefings on whether the state should adopt new maps this year and conduct special elections in November to fill those seats. 

The NAACP argued that special elections should take place in November, while the defendant, the all-Republican State Board of Election Commissioners, argued the elections should take place next year because it would be nearly impossible to redraw the districts in time for November elections. 

This would also have required lawmakers to return to Jackson in a special session this year to draw and approve new districts.

“The equitable weighing process we must use when selecting the proper remedy for Voting Rights Act violations leads us to conclude that the Mississippi Legislature need not act until its regular 2025 session,” the judges wrote in a unanimous opinion. “Because there are no general, statewide elections in 2025, the Mississippi Legislature must also determine the most appropriate dates in 2025 for elections in the affected districts.”

READ MORE: Federal judges order Mississippi Legislature to create more Black districts, may prompt 2024 elections

The panel is composed of U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden, Chief U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan and U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Leslie Southwick. President George W. Bush appointed all three Mississippi judges to the federal bench. 

The State Board of Election Commissioners, composed of Republicans Attorney General Lynn Fitch, Gov. Tate Reeves and Secretary of State Michael Watson, could appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The state has a Black population of about 38%. Currently there are 42-Black majority districts in the 122-member House and 15 Black majority districts in the 52-seat Senate.

The panel ruled earlier this month that Black-majority Senate districts should be drawn at least in the DeSoto County area in north Mississippi and in the Hattiesburg area in south Mississippi. In addition, a new Black majority House district should be drawn in the Chickasaw County area in northeast Mississippi.

However, the Legislature will still have to tweak many districts in the state to accommodate for the new Black-majority maps. Defendants had argued that the redrawing would affect a quarter of the state’s 174 legislative districts and require new elections.

State legislative leaders did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday on the new ruling.

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• As Susan Crabtree writes, allegations against the Secret Service are mounting in the aftermath of the assassination attempt against Donald Trump.

New allegations that Secret Service training resources were reallocated to “executive leadership bonuses” and DEI-prioritized recruitment are among the torrent of charges leveled against agency Director Kim Cheatle and other top officials in the aftermath of the assassination attempt against Donald Trump.

Inside the main hall of Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum, Republicans Thursday night were enjoying a Make America Great Again lovefest. But on the outside perimeter of the convention center, anger was still spewing over an avalanche of negative information about the layers of Secret Service failures that led to a bullet piercing Trump’s right ear, just millimeters away from killing him, four days ago at a rally in Pennsylvania.

Two GOP senators angrily confronted Cheatle, running her down when she refused to answer their repeated questions. 

“This is exactly what you were doing today on the call – stonewalling,” Sen. John Barrasso, a Republican from Wyoming, fumed at Cheatle as she walked sternly without speaking, a tall male Secret Service agent by her side.

“This was an assassination attempt!” stormed Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican. “You owe the people answers. “You owe President Trump answers.”

A tight-lipped Cheatle continued to walk briskly away.

Afterward, Blackburn and Barrasso posted a video on Twitter recounting the confrontation and reiterating their calls for answers and for Cheatle’s resignation.

“I’ve got a message for her, she can run but she cannot hide because the American people want to know how an assassination attempt was carried out on President Donald Trump,” she declared.

Allegations leveled against the Secret Service over the last 24 hours include:

• A Secret Service special agent or officer was assigned to the building rooftop where Thomas Matthew Crooks fired off the shots but never showed up for work that day.
• The explanation Cheatle provided for the unmanned rooftop – that she had placed agents and/or officers inside the building because the “slope” of the roof posted a physical danger – was nonsensical because there was a similar rooftop nearby where two counter snipers were positioned.
• Four Secret Service snipers were present at the Pennsylvania rally, but only two of them were from the highly trained Secret Service ranks. The other two, who were responsible for firing the shots that killed Crooks, were local law enforcement officers.

A petition on change.org calling for Cheatle to resign was blocked and placed under review. When the petition was shut down Tuesday, it was just a few hundred signatures shy of reaching its goal of 10,000. (Hours after RCP on X.com publicly questioned the move as a potential example of censorship, the petition was restored.)

The revelations and serious allegations piled up Wednesday, with more lawmakers calling for Cheatle’s resignation after the director held a telephone briefing for senators on the security failures. On the call, senators learned that law enforcement had flagged Crooks for suspicious behavior more than an hour before he fired shots at Trump. The agents and officers noticed that Crooks was holding a rangefinder and was wearing a backpack. Counter snipers spotted Crooks 20 minutes before the shots rang out.

Sen. Barrasso talked to reporters after the briefing, reiterating calls for Cheatle to resign and complaining that Cheatle shut down the telephone briefing after just a couple of questions and “didn’t get into the meat of the matter.” Several senators, including Marsha Blackburn, Ted Cruz, and Mike Lee, remained in the queue, never getting their questions answered, The Federalist reported on X.com.

“So far, they’re flooding us with details that aren’t helpful,” Sen. Lee, a Utah Republican, said in an X.com post before the briefing ended. “I have yet to hear them substantively address the failures that led to this tragedy.”

Senators on the call also learned that the Secret Service was aware of a “potential threat” 10 minutes before Trump took the stage in Pennsylvania but let him go out anyway. That revelation outraged many senators, including Blackburn, who told reporters she was “appalled to learn the Secret Service knew about a threat prior to President Trump walking on stage.”

“I have no confidence in the leadership of Director Cheatle,” she added, “and believe it is in the best interest of our nation if she steps down from her position.”

The briefing for senators occurred after Cheatle failed to provide a promised Tuesday briefing for House Republicans on the Oversight Committee. Rep. James Comer, who chairs that panel, issued a subpoena Tuesday for Cheatle to appear for a hearing on Monday.

The petition calling for Cheatle’s resignation cited her support for a “30×30 pledge,” which aims to reach at least a 30% female workforce by 2030. The pledge is part of a national drive adopted by various law enforcement agencies across the country and one Cheatle has openly and enthusiastically backed.

“Although Director Cheatle’s goal may have good intentions,” the petition stated, “unfortunately her misguided agenda has employed methods that have apparently resulted in female candidates not being vetted.”

The petition also cited manpower shortages due to attrition driven by heavy workloads and low worker morale, as well as “selective promotion practices” during Cheatle’s tenure as director that aren’t merit-based. It said the agency is struggling with insufficient training funds while resources are being “reallocated” for recruitment, promotional testing, and executive leadership bonuses.

The petition detailed allegations that Cheatle and others in the agency’s “executive leadership” resisted taking appropriate investigative or disciplinary action for “blatant misconduct” by a female agent who had received poor performance reviews and then accused her supervisor of sexual harassment.

That superior allegedly filed a whistleblower complaint, which resulted in disciplinary action being taken against the female agent in question, according to a copy of an internal Secret Service memo dated Jan. 19, 2024, and obtained by RealClearPolitics.

Questions also are swirling around the agency about why its snipers didn’t shoot Crooks until after he fired on Trump.

One source in the Secret Service community said the agency has long taken an overly measured approach when it comes to firing on suspicious activity or people – even when they are armed.

In the fall of 2014, the Secret Service faced a crisis after several disciplinary problems and security lapses, including fence-jumpers making it inside the White House. Ralph Basham, a former Secret Service director from 2003-2006, a 30+ year veteran of the agency, and a former director of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, testified at a September 30, 2014, House Oversight Committee hearing.

Under questioning from lawmakers, Basham tried to explain why the Secret Service has a resistance to shooting first unless they can be fairly certain a suspicious person is a direct threat to the president or other protectees.

“So, there’s a lot of things going on in the Secret Service’s head, I am sure, when we have an intruder like that,” Basham said. “But I just have a real – well, I think I am out of time. But I will say, in 1976, there was an individual who came over the [White House] fence, apparently was carrying some type of device that was – appeared to be a weapon, but turned out to be a pipe, and they shot him. And there was criticism for that shooting in 1976. This is a difficult, difficult balance to strike.”

“That has contributed directly (among many other things) to the hesitation to shoot first,” the source said. “Also, note that [the 1976] incident was the first time I am aware of when a counter sniper fired on someone.”

“We don’t need a director who creates a culture where counter snipers and others have to be unreasonably concerned about ‘striking a balance,’” the source continued. ”We need to be trained, and then get a transformational leader who will back you if you followed your training.”

#####

This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Read original article by clicking here.

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.

• As Susan Crabtree writes, allegations against the Secret Service are mounting in the aftermath of the assassination attempt against Donald Trump.

New allegations that Secret Service training resources were reallocated to “executive leadership bonuses” and DEI-prioritized recruitment are among the torrent of charges leveled against agency Director Kim Cheatle and other top officials in the aftermath of the assassination attempt against Donald Trump.

Inside the main hall of Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum, Republicans Thursday night were enjoying a Make America Great Again lovefest. But on the outside perimeter of the convention center, anger was still spewing over an avalanche of negative information about the layers of Secret Service failures that led to a bullet piercing Trump’s right ear, just millimeters away from killing him, four days ago at a rally in Pennsylvania.

Two GOP senators angrily confronted Cheatle, running her down when she refused to answer their repeated questions. 

“This is exactly what you were doing today on the call – stonewalling,” Sen. John Barrasso, a Republican from Wyoming, fumed at Cheatle as she walked sternly without speaking, a tall male Secret Service agent by her side.

“This was an assassination attempt!” stormed Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican. “You owe the people answers. “You owe President Trump answers.”

A tight-lipped Cheatle continued to walk briskly away.

Afterward, Blackburn and Barrasso posted a video on Twitter recounting the confrontation and reiterating their calls for answers and for Cheatle’s resignation.

“I’ve got a message for her, she can run but she cannot hide because the American people want to know how an assassination attempt was carried out on President Donald Trump,” she declared.

Allegations leveled against the Secret Service over the last 24 hours include:

• A Secret Service special agent or officer was assigned to the building rooftop where Thomas Matthew Crooks fired off the shots but never showed up for work that day.
• The explanation Cheatle provided for the unmanned rooftop – that she had placed agents and/or officers inside the building because the “slope” of the roof posted a physical danger – was nonsensical because there was a similar rooftop nearby where two counter snipers were positioned.
• Four Secret Service snipers were present at the Pennsylvania rally, but only two of them were from the highly trained Secret Service ranks. The other two, who were responsible for firing the shots that killed Crooks, were local law enforcement officers.

A petition on change.org calling for Cheatle to resign was blocked and placed under review. When the petition was shut down Tuesday, it was just a few hundred signatures shy of reaching its goal of 10,000. (Hours after RCP on X.com publicly questioned the move as a potential example of censorship, the petition was restored.)

The revelations and serious allegations piled up Wednesday, with more lawmakers calling for Cheatle’s resignation after the director held a telephone briefing for senators on the security failures. On the call, senators learned that law enforcement had flagged Crooks for suspicious behavior more than an hour before he fired shots at Trump. The agents and officers noticed that Crooks was holding a rangefinder and was wearing a backpack. Counter snipers spotted Crooks 20 minutes before the shots rang out.

Sen. Barrasso talked to reporters after the briefing, reiterating calls for Cheatle to resign and complaining that Cheatle shut down the telephone briefing after just a couple of questions and “didn’t get into the meat of the matter.” Several senators, including Marsha Blackburn, Ted Cruz, and Mike Lee, remained in the queue, never getting their questions answered, The Federalist reported on X.com.

“So far, they’re flooding us with details that aren’t helpful,” Sen. Lee, a Utah Republican, said in an X.com post before the briefing ended. “I have yet to hear them substantively address the failures that led to this tragedy.”

Senators on the call also learned that the Secret Service was aware of a “potential threat” 10 minutes before Trump took the stage in Pennsylvania but let him go out anyway. That revelation outraged many senators, including Blackburn, who told reporters she was “appalled to learn the Secret Service knew about a threat prior to President Trump walking on stage.”

“I have no confidence in the leadership of Director Cheatle,” she added, “and believe it is in the best interest of our nation if she steps down from her position.”

The briefing for senators occurred after Cheatle failed to provide a promised Tuesday briefing for House Republicans on the Oversight Committee. Rep. James Comer, who chairs that panel, issued a subpoena Tuesday for Cheatle to appear for a hearing on Monday.

The petition calling for Cheatle’s resignation cited her support for a “30×30 pledge,” which aims to reach at least a 30% female workforce by 2030. The pledge is part of a national drive adopted by various law enforcement agencies across the country and one Cheatle has openly and enthusiastically backed.

“Although Director Cheatle’s goal may have good intentions,” the petition stated, “unfortunately her misguided agenda has employed methods that have apparently resulted in female candidates not being vetted.”

The petition also cited manpower shortages due to attrition driven by heavy workloads and low worker morale, as well as “selective promotion practices” during Cheatle’s tenure as director that aren’t merit-based. It said the agency is struggling with insufficient training funds while resources are being “reallocated” for recruitment, promotional testing, and executive leadership bonuses.

The petition detailed allegations that Cheatle and others in the agency’s “executive leadership” resisted taking appropriate investigative or disciplinary action for “blatant misconduct” by a female agent who had received poor performance reviews and then accused her supervisor of sexual harassment.

That superior allegedly filed a whistleblower complaint, which resulted in disciplinary action being taken against the female agent in question, according to a copy of an internal Secret Service memo dated Jan. 19, 2024, and obtained by RealClearPolitics.

Questions also are swirling around the agency about why its snipers didn’t shoot Crooks until after he fired on Trump.

One source in the Secret Service community said the agency has long taken an overly measured approach when it comes to firing on suspicious activity or people – even when they are armed.

In the fall of 2014, the Secret Service faced a crisis after several disciplinary problems and security lapses, including fence-jumpers making it inside the White House. Ralph Basham, a former Secret Service director from 2003-2006, a 30+ year veteran of the agency, and a former director of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, testified at a September 30, 2014, House Oversight Committee hearing.

Under questioning from lawmakers, Basham tried to explain why the Secret Service has a resistance to shooting first unless they can be fairly certain a suspicious person is a direct threat to the president or other protectees.

“So, there’s a lot of things going on in the Secret Service’s head, I am sure, when we have an intruder like that,” Basham said. “But I just have a real – well, I think I am out of time. But I will say, in 1976, there was an individual who came over the [White House] fence, apparently was carrying some type of device that was – appeared to be a weapon, but turned out to be a pipe, and they shot him. And there was criticism for that shooting in 1976. This is a difficult, difficult balance to strike.”

“That has contributed directly (among many other things) to the hesitation to shoot first,” the source said. “Also, note that [the 1976] incident was the first time I am aware of when a counter sniper fired on someone.”

“We don’t need a director who creates a culture where counter snipers and others have to be unreasonably concerned about ‘striking a balance,’” the source continued. ”We need to be trained, and then get a transformational leader who will back you if you followed your training.”

#####

This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Read original article by clicking here.