WEBVTT

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as of late we have witnessed an outright

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assault on our law enforcement community

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last night in Oakland California an

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assassin cowardly shot to Federal

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Protective Service contractors as they

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stood watch over a protest one officer

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was killed and the other is in critical

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condition the FBI the Oakland Police

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supported by the Department of Homeland

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Security are investigating that attack

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let me express my deepest condolences to

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the family members of these 2fps

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contractors any loss in the DHS family

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impacts all of us and I want the loved

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ones of these brave officers to know

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that you have the support of the

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department behind you also last night

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the brave men and women of the United

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States Secret Service were assaulted by

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criminals they threw rocks they threw

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urine and they threw alcohol at our

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officers and in several instances our

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officers incurred injuries to include

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broken bones

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these protesters committed these acts of

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violence while hiding behind their First

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Amendment right of lawful protest and

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finally earlier this week an ice

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facility was attacked by a criminal who

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threw a Molotov cocktail in an attempt

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to burn down that facility a facility

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that houses the men and women who have

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taken a solemn oath to protect this

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country and while these investigate

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these incidents are under investigation

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the Department of Homeland Security will

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not rest until these criminals are

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brought to justice as the nation's

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largest law-enforcement organization the

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department's top priority is protecting

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the American people and our workforce I

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want to assure the American people

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the DHS officers will continue to

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fulfill the solemn duty regardless of

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the violence they face DHS and it's law

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enforcement components are taking a

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number of proactive steps in response to

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the unfortunate events that have taken

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place over the last 24 hours

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those steps include fps Federal

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Protective Service has taken an enhanced

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posture in a number of cities and

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localities throughout the country the

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United States Secret Service is evolving

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and adapting to the changing nature of

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the threats they face as well and CBP

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and I

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are supporting our local partners on the

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ground with surveillance and other

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capabilities these measures will help

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our personnel stay safe as they continue

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to protect us from those who spread this

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violence as our nation our nation is at

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its strongest when we confront

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challenges together and resist the

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voices that tried to divide us our law

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enforcement officers put their health

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they put their safety on the line in

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order to protect the American public and

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we owe them and their families not only

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our respect but a debt of gratitude

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thank you let me ask acting deputy

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secretary Cuccinelli's say a few words

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good afternoon thank you all for for

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being here and joining us I would also

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like to express my condolences to those

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who have been killed and injured in last

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night's acts of senseless violence our

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brothers and sisters across the

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departments law enforcement components

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exemplify the courage the selfless

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service and the dedication to duty that

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we hold dear at the Department of

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Homeland Security and I can tell you as

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a former State Attorney General I know I

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have been to too many of these funerals

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the Department of Homeland Security is

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nearly two decades of experience

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responding to some of the challenging

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threats our nation has ever faced we'll

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continue to meet any challenge head-on

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as we fulfill our duty to protect the

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American people and our law enforcement

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personnel this department stands ready

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to protect the American people and our

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employees during this difficult time

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using every legal means at our disposal

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we stand firmly behind our law

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enforcement officers and the state and

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local law enforcement officers that form

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some of the most valuable partnerships

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with which we work every single day all

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across America to keep you safe

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there are currently threats by some to

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attack police stations and federal

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buildings that violence not only won't

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be tolerated

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we are also commit

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ensuring that it won't succeed anywhere

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anywhere and let me be clear when

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someone targets a police officer or a

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police station with an intention to do

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harm and intimidate that is an act of

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domestic terrorism fighting terrorism

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was the very reason for the founding of

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the Department of Homeland Security and

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as I said earlier we will stand behind

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our law enforcement officers here in the

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department and all over America as they

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put themselves on the line to protect

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each and every one of you thank you very

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much we'll take a few questions if there

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are some yeah of course DHS is

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supporting our federal and local law

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enforcement partners in any any and all

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investigations across the country so I'm

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gonna I'll defer that to FBI DOJ and

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others on that investigation it's too

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early to comment on that but just know

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that whether its eyes homeland security

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investigators or its other in Secret

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Service and others throughout the

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department we are heavily involved in in

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those investigations we're partners not

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only with the bureau but other other of

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our local law enforcement agencies so

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we'll continue to support them in those

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investigations are you seeing an

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increase in the white nationalist or

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white supremacist organizations

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any chatter on those websites trying to

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infiltrate these groups maybe again I

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would say it's very early on in many of

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these investigations and from a

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department standpoint we are interested

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in any and all groups any and all groups

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that are taking advantage of what could

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be a peaceful protest and turning that

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into something that that's very

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different and that's what we're seeing

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across the country we saw that last

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night so the department again we're

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interested in all groups all violent

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groups

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extremist groups that are gonna take

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advantage of individuals exercising

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their First Amendment right to do that

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peaceful protest and turning it into

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something else and that's what we're

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seeing we're seeing a pattern of that

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and we're very concerned about that do

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you have any reason to believe that the

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shooting of these officers was racially

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motivated in any way no again I would

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say investigations ongoing I will just

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note that we had again two FBS officers

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shot as they were responding to a

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protest there in Oakland I would just

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say that is that is unique we don't see

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that we don't see FBS officers shot at

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but again whether it was racially

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motivated or whatever it ends up being

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at the end of the day the investigation

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will will demonstrate that and that

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continues very early on in that

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investigation so the individuals that

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were shot last night were contracted

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protective security officers that we

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contract with to protect our federal

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facilities this is a third one in the

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last five years that have been shot and

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killed while on duty

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one in Suitland Maryland in 2015

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same year at the Varick facility in New

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York City and then this is our third one

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they're definitely the front line of

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defense at our federal facilities

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thank you all for doing this press

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conference secretary could you speak any

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more to any of the specific groups that

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you're interested in looking into and

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more broadly about what it is

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specifically the work that you're doing

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to look into extremist groups sure now

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again as I've indicated a couple of

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times now the investigation is very

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early on we have seen reports out there

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that a number of different groups are

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involved in these whether it's an Tifa

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or its others frankly so we're gonna

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continue to look at that we're gonna

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continue to pull the string there and

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again what we're concerned about are

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these groups taking advantage of a

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peaceful protest and what we're seeing

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over the last 24 hours were seen some

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organization to these groups we're

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seeing different tactics of these groups

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things that you would not see in a

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peaceful protest we are seeing different

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things and that's concerning to us not

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only last night but as the weekend

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unfolds so again we have our law

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enforcement officers FBS indicated it on

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the front line of this we have an

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enhanced posture we are surging

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resources not only here in the DC area

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but across the country and we are ready

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for what's going to happen what evidence

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do you have that it's groups like antiva

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versus other I just said we've seen

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reporting out there that it's these

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different groups and again as I

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indicated early on in the investigation

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so I'm not going to not gonna guess what

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these groups are we're gonna continue to

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look at the facts but we see reporting

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out there like other individuals do as

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well so I've seen that we're looking

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into that we'll continue to do that not

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only with the Department of Justice but

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with FBI and others this is for the

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Secret Service director do you have any

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comment on the situation outside the

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White House last night and maybe if

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there's gonna be an increased posture

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given the situation last night you know

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as the weekend as the week progresses

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sure first I did want to commend the men

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and women of the Secret Service for not

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only their vigilance and their

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perseverance last night but also the

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high degree of professional

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they showed and compassion and concern

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for Malloy demonstrators but people that

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actually meant to do them harm

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also very grateful for the partnership

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with us Park Police and Metropolitan

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Police Department who were there

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supporting us as well our protective

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methodology by design is scalable so

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it's never a question of readiness for

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us we're always ready but we try to

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capitalize on lessons learned and

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employing the appropriate measures so

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we'll certainly do that take some

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lessons learned from last night

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incorporate them into tonight's plan and

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ensure that we do our best to provide a

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safe and secure environment for

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everybody who comes out there to

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exercise their First Amendment rights

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Thanks thanks again for everyone coming

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out