Chilling evidence from 1/6 Committee

Zeldan attack details continue to get weirder and weirder

Jul 25, 2022

By Ken Tingley

The tap on the shoulder startled me.

He was a big man, dressed impeccably with an earpiece and he was very polite as he asked me to take my hands out of my pockets. He worked for the Secret Service.

I was standing along the rope line in a Washington, D.C. hotel after President George W. Bush addressed a national journalism organization that I belonged to at the time. I was waiting to shake hands with the president. I apologized profusely to the agent for my shortsightedness.

A few minutes later, the president stopped and shook my hand, exchanged pleasantries and my brother snapped a photo.

I marveled that a regular citizen like myself had the opportunity to brush shoulders for a second with the president. Thanks in part to the Secret Service.

Over my career in newspapers, I have brushed shoulders with Secret Service agents a few times while they attempted to blend into the background. One of them broke up my interview with Nolan Ryan at the Baseball Hall of Fame Game so Vice President George H.W. Bush could chat. I was not happy.

Another agent asked where the rest room before Sen. Hillary Clinton met with our editorial board at the newspaper.

My impression has always been of serious, professional people that are always totally in control of any situation.

That changed with what I saw at the 1/6 Committee hearings Thursday night.

Most of us had already seen the video of the Vice President Pence being hustled out the door and down a flight of stairs at the U.S. Capitol as protestors advanced.

What we didn’t hear was the real-time urgent radio transmissions between police and the Secret Service.

It isn’t quite panic, but it is grave concern over how long they will be unable to protect the Vice President. They argued he needed to be moved immediately to get out of the building.

One person testified the agents “feared for their own lives” and some made personal calls to “say goodbye to family members.”

It was chilling testimony.

If there was ever any doubt about the violence and the danger to public officials at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, this clarified it.

Further testimony confirmed President Trump failed to take any initiative to quell the riot or protect public officials at the Capitol. The testimony highlighting Trump’s inaction was almost entirely from his staff members and fellow Republicans.

If Trump was in the military, he would be court-martialed

I still see people around town with Trump signs and banners. The recent revelations from the 1/6 investigation should remove any doubt about Trump’s motives or his ability to serve in the best interests of Americans.

Zeldan attack

The attack on Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldan is getting weirder and weirder.

It first appeared Zeldan had fought off a man with a knife. But now the weapon is being described as a keychain with two sharp objects - authorities should release a photo of it. The Iraq War veteran accused of the attack was first released without bail on an attempted assault charge - which seemed absurd considering it was an attack on a political candidate - then federal charges were filed and the man was back in jail.

The man said in subsequent interviews with authorities he did not know who Zeldan was or that he was a political candidate. He also admitted he had been drinking whiskey that day before the speech. When he was shown video of the attack, he said he must have “checked out.”

“The Last American Newspaper”

The past two weeks have been intense at my house as my wife and I have been pouring over the final proofs of “The Last American Newspaper.”

This book is two years in the making and I am proud of its message about the great journalism being done at small newspapers. You can now preorder the book at McFarland Books. I’ll start trickling out some of the early reviews over the next few weeks.

“Across America, community newspapers are in deep trouble as more than 35,000 local journalists have lost jobs since 2008. The result is lower civic engagement, less accountability among local leaders, and the critical loss of a catalyst for positive change. Ken Tingley’s book, “The Last American Newspaper,” is a clarion call for citizens who are rightly concerned about who is going to do the kind of journalism needed in a democracy. Tingley’s account of the talented and dedicated staff of The Post-Star – and the increasing financial, corporate and political challenges faced in his 21 years as editor – is a microcosm of the triumphs and challenges experienced by community newspapers in hometowns across the U.S.A. Tingley’s writing is as clear as his message.”

- David Stoeffler, former Post-Star publisher

Chief Executive Officer, Springfield (MO) Daily Citizen

Preorder “The Last American Newspaper”