Special Agent Jack Ready: "I heard what appeared to be fire crackers going off from my position. I immediately turned to my right rear trying to locate the source but was not able to determine the exact location."
Firecrackers? Let's start with a definition, from Wikipedia:
A firecracker (cracker, noise maker, banger, or bunger is a small explosive device primarily designed to produce a large amount of noise, especially in the form of a loud bang; any visual effect is incidental to this goal. They have fuses, and are wrapped in a heavy paper casing to contain the explosive compound. Firecrackers, along with fireworks, originated in China.
Firecrackers? So, not just a firecracker but firecrackers? Why would he think that? The only basis I can think of is if at other Presidential motorcades which he attended, people set off firecrackers.
I've just done a search, and I have found no reports of firecrackers being exploded at any Presidential motorcade- before or since. And what are the chances that in a crowded place like that that someone would even conceive the notion of bringing along a firecracker to blow up? Surely, Ready was smart enough to realize that if there was anything planned in the way of celebratory firecrackers, the Secret Service would have been informed, and he would have gotten the memo.
Ready, in fact, heard a gunshot, and it was at rather close range. Even if his mind went to firecrackers first, which I find beyond preposterous, how long would it stay there? I mean before his mind went to: gunshot.
So you see, the AP caption writer got it wrong: The Secret Service agents weren't looking for the source of the shots; they were looking for the source of the firecrackers.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.