Volume I
Transcript of Non-Jury Trial Before the Honorable Bristow Marchant United States Magistrate Judge

Direct Examination {p.1-4}

By Mr. Barton:

Q.  Can you see me?

A.  Yes, sir.

Q.  State your full name again for the court.

A.  Douglas Cohen.

Q.  And by whom are you employed, please, sir?

A.  The U.S. Secret Service.

Q.  And in what capacity?

A.  I’m a special agent.

Q.  How long have you been employed by the Secret Service?

A.  Roughly ten years and eight months.

Q.  Would you tell the court where and what your duties have been — where you have served and what your duties have been?

A.  I started in the Chicago field office where I conducted criminal investigations, did that for approximately six years, and was transferred to the presidential protective division, also known as PPD, four and-a-half years ago.

Q.  Is that where you are currently assigned?

A.  That’s correct.

Q.  Would you describe for the court what the duties and responsibilities are of agents assigned to — I will just call it the PPD, the presidential protective detail?

A.  We provide personal security for the president and his family.

Q.  Do you also involve yourself in — well, what is involved {p.1-5} in providing protective security for the president and his family?

A.  Well, we conduct advances and also personal protection, for lack of a better definition, personal protection that cloaks him, circled around the president. The advance work being all the preparatory work that goes into a visit ahead of time.

Q.  And do these visits include both domestic and foreign visits?

A.  Yes, they do.

Q.  And the visit to Columbia, South Carolina on October 24th, 2002, that’s typical of a visit, or an example of one of the visits you are talking about?

A.  That’s correct.

Q.  Did you participate in the advance of the site preparation for that particular visit?

A.  Yes, I did, I was the site agent.

Q.  How many other visits have you participated in in some aspect of preparation of the advance?

A.  For the advance, probably 25 to 30.

Q.  Okay. And that’s in the four and-a-half years you have been on the PPD; is that correct?

A.  Well, that’s as a site person. I have also done other types of advances, as another different entity. But overall, I would say probably 100 advances that I have been involved in. But as a site person, like I was on this visit, about 25. {p.1-6}

Q.  Okay. I want you to explain to the court, or give the court a brief overview of what the Secret Service does in connection with this advance work for a presidential visit.

Starting with, how far before a visit takes place does the Secret Service, or the presidential protective detail get involved with the visit?

A.  Approximately a week before the scheduled date of the visit the advance team arrives in the city to be visited, for a domestic visit.

Q.  Now, that doesn’t include agents in the location, that’s coming out of the presidential protective detail?

A.  That’s correct. We marry up with someone in the field office from the local community we visit.

Q.  How many agents from the PPD come down on an advance?

A.  It varies on the visit, but usually between 10 and 12.

Q.  Okay. Would you — and does each one of those 10 to 12 agents have separate responsibilities?

A.  That’s correct.

Q.  Would you describe for the court what some of those responsibilities are, what they are in charge of and what they entail?

A.  There’s an airport agent, and he’s responsible for the advance and the security at the airport. There are site agents for every site, venue, that is visited, there will be a motorcade agent — {p.1-7}

Q.  Before you go on, what does — the site agent at a venue, what is that person’s responsibility?

A.  They will become familiar with that site, walk through it with staff, find out what the event is going to be, and then build the security around it. Become intimate with the site and coordinate with other entities that are also doing advances to provide the security for the perimeter.

Q.  And you said there is a site agent for each site —

A.  Yes.

Q.  — on a visit? So, if the president goes to three different locations in Columbia, there will be a site agent for each location?

A.  That’s right.

Q.  Go ahead. Other responsibilities?

A.  There will be a motorcade advance agent, and they will coordinate with the police and pick out and route all the primary motorcade routes, the emergency motorcade routes, the emergency landing zone routes, the hospital routes, emergency landing zones — if there’s a problem, if they have to fly in, say, helicopters and pick up the president. They would coordinate all the routes for the visit.

Q.  Is there more than one route of the motorcade planned?

A.  Every destination and — according to the destination has probably four routes that are associated with it.

Q.  Okay. And the motorcade agents are responsible for {p.1-8} identifying all of those?

A.  Identifying them and coordinating with securing the routes.

Q.  Okay. Go ahead.

A.  We have a technical security advance. They are responsible for the environment the president is in, whether it be chemical, biological, air quality. They control the bomb sweeps, explosive devices, bomb sweeps. They also worry about structural integrity of the buildings and stages that he might be on.

And then we have counter sniper advance, or also known as CS. They coordinate and do an advance — an assessment on long range threats, basically a sniper threat, and discuss with the site people how to mitigate that long range threat.

Q.  Okay. Is there something known as a CS or counter sniper response team as well?

A.  Yes, sir.

Q.  What is their responsibility?

A.  Their responsibility would be to go out to respond to anything that is of concern on the day of the visit that the counter sniper team sees. And they use optics, binoculars and so forth to look out far.

So, if they would see something that would concern them, they would send an agent and a police officer to investigate at whatever would be — would concern them. {p.1-9}

Q.  Give me an example of what they might see that would give them a concern?

A.  It could be something, you know, 600 yards away, an open window that looks into the site where the president might be. And they would have that team go look and investigate that open window. It could be someone on a hilltop, you know, 100 yards away.

Q.  Okay. Other responsibilities? Is there a counter assault team?

A.  Counter assault team. They are kind of like a SWAT team, they do a tactical assessment of all the venues and how they would respond if there was an organized assault on the president. Also coordinate with the police in the division of labor for what the police responsibilities would be and what our tactical team responsibilities would be.

Q.  How about metal detectors, is anybody in charge of that?

A.  Yes, there are metal detector advance individuals that comes out and determines where the best place — the metal detectors are to be placed, and how many they would need to facilitate processing all of the guests into a venue.

Q.  Okay. There’s something known as protective intelligence?

A.  Protective intelligence teams are — an individual comes out from our — it’s actually called the intelligence division.

Q.  Okay.

A.  And they do the intelligence advance for the visit. {p.1-10}

Anything that could affect the visit, as far as a threat or anything that could be deemed — the theft of police uniforms, theft of explosives, threats to other prominent individuals that might be in the same place the president is at that time, they do that advance and coordinate. They have protective intelligence teams at every site.

Q.  Okay. What is the role of the local Secret Service office say here in Columbia, if a visit comes here?

A.  Columbia would provide a counterpart to every advance entity from the presidential protective division that comes to town. It’s basically a redundant system so if something happens to the person from the advance — from the president’s detail, there is someone there to pick up the ball and run with it. They know everything, they work with you intimately.

They also know the rules of the local area that we are visiting, so we don’t come into town and demand stuff or ask for stuff that isn’t available. They can facilitate getting things done.

Q.  Do the state and local police get involved with the Secret Service in connection with the visit?

A.  Yes, we coordinate with them.

Q.  What types of things do you coordinate?

A.  Well, the secure perimeter or restricted areas are all determined with — I think in conjunction with them, also the motorcade routes. And, every aspect of the visit is {p.1-11} discussed with our police counterparts as well.

Q.  Do you have briefings where all of this is discussed among everybody?

A.  Yes, we do.

Q.  Well, how often do those take place?

A.  With the police, our initial briefing, with all of the entities together, would be typically the day we get to town or the day after we get to town.

And then we break up into groups, various responsibilities, so the police that are going to handle the motorcades would go with the motorcade advance agent, the police that are going to handle site venue number one would go with the Secret Service personnel that are responsible for that, and then they would have daily contact after that with the police on that.

Q.  This is all going on the week prior to the president’s actual arrival?

A.  That’s correct.

Q.  Does the Secret Service bring — so you have got Secret Service agents from the presidential protective detail, you have got the local Secret Service agents?

A.  Yes.

Q.  Does the Secret Service also bring in additional agents from other offices when there is a presidential visit?

A.  Yes, sir. Our restricted area manpower, or perimeter, is {p.1-12} set up by — well, the agents’ plan, the advance agents’ plan, by how many people they are going to need to secure a venue. And then they go to the field offices and request the manpower.

So, they bring in other additional manpower to secure the perimeters and the venues usually the day before the visit, and then they are briefed on what they are going to do.

Q.  So, the agents coming in who haven’t been there, get them briefed before the visit occurs?

A.  That’s correct.

Q.  Can you — are those agents simply known as post standers?

A.  That’s right.

Mr. Pitts:  Your Honor, I realize we don’t have a jury, but I would object to leading questions.

Mr. Barton:  It’s background, I’m just trying to get through some of this, Your Honor —

The Court:  You are leading a little bit.

Mr. Barton:  All right.

The Court:  Don’t tell him what to say.

Mr. Barton:  Okay.

By Mr. Barton:

Q.  Could you give the court an estimation of approximately how many agents would typically come in on a visit, other Secret Service agents from other locations?

A.  Okay. We don’t like to give the specific numbers, but on a visit like this, for our post standers, to our perimeter {p.1-13} agents, we bring in — between 50 and 100 would be reasonable.

Q.  Okay. And I believe you testified you were involved in the October 24th visit?

A.  That’s correct.

Q.  And what was your responsibility there?

A.  I was the site agent at Doolittle Hanger.

Q.  Okay. And how far in advance of the October 24th visit did you actually arrive?

A.  Six or seven days.

Q.  And how did you spend those six or seven days prior to the president’s arrival? Tell the court what your activities were.

A.  I spent the majority of the week at the site, walking every inch of the site, learning the ways in and out of the site and how we are going to get the public in, how we are going to be able to secure that site while allowing the public to come in through the metal detectors. And also defining our restricted areas around the site.

Also, we also coordinate with and discuss all the technical security issues with our technical security advance, the counter assault issues with the counter assault advance, the counter sniper issues with the counter sniper advance, all the other entities that are a part of the advance come to the site that I was doing, the Doolittle Hanger, to give me input on how best to secure that area and also their expertise.

Q.  Can you relate to the court any of the specific things you {p.1-14} can recall doing with regard to the Doolittle Hanger itself?

A.  I’m sorry, I — I went around to figure out all the ways into the building, and also how I was going to secure that as far as the posting of the post standers and the police.

Q.  Were there any — I don’t know — the technical issues that came up, for instance, from the technical security people, any issues come up?

A.  Sure. There were some issues that — in that hanger there is a parts room that was very hard to do a bomb sweep in, so we needed extra time to do a bomb sweep in there because they had crates and so forth. There wasn’t any —

The Court:  To do a what? I’m sorry.

The Witness:  Bomb sweep.

The Court:  Okay.

The Witness:  To do a bomb sweep. Which in that hanger I believe took about two hours to complete a bomb sweep. And at that point we clear out everybody from the building and complete a bomb sweep, and that’s prior to opening the metal detectors. And then at that point everyone coming in would be clean from the metal detector standpoint.

By Mr. Barton:

Q.  How about counter sniper? Any issues in —

A.  Counter sniper had some areas of concern that looked into our arrival area. And we discussed ways that we could mitigate those areas of concern from a long range threat. They also {p.1-15} were posted on top of the building and had observations throughout the visit there.

Q.  How did you mitigate the concerns of that?

A.  We — we parked a couple of large trucks that block the line of sight to that arrival area, in the way of the spots that looked into the arrival area.

Q.  Do you recognize this as the general area around the Doolittle Hanger?

A.  Yes, I do.

Mr. Barton:  Without objection, I would move to admit Government’s Exhibit Number 1.

The Court:  Government’s Exhibit 1 without objection?

Mr. Pitts:  That’s correct.

Your Honor, may I approach?

The Court:  Yes, sir.

Mr. Barton:  May the witness step down so he can point to the areas he’s referring to?

The Court:  If you want to turn it, you can turn it that way so you can let people see.

By Mr. Barton:

Q.  Agent Cohen, would you point out the Doolittle Hanger on there?

A.  (Indicating).

Q.  Okay. And where was the public going to be entering the Doolittle Hanger? {p.1-16}

A.  They are going to be coming in the open — the bay doors are on this side, this is the Tarmac out here.

Q.  Yes.

A.  And the bay doors were open and they were going to come in around the hanger into the open bay doors.

Q.  Where was the magnetometer set up?

A.  They were set up right over here.

Q.  So, before they went in, they had to go through the metal detectors?

A.  That’s correct.

Q.  The vehicles you parked, where did you park vehicles to resolve any security issues you had about the hanger?

A.  Well, the arrival door was right here. That’s where the motorcade —

The Court:  You need to put — since that’s not going to be in the transcript, you need to say to the left of the building, to the right of the building.

The Witness:  Okay. To the left of the building, I believe.

The Court:  Bottom left-hand corner?

The Witness:  Bottom left-hand corner of the building. And there was a fence also right along here. We parked a couple of trucks on this fence line and this fence line at angles that blocked line of sight from areas of concern that our counter snipers picked out. {p.1-17}

The Court:  That’s on the left-hand side?

The Witness:  On the left-hand side of — the majority of the areas of concern were on the left-hand side of the diagram, farther out from the diagram.

By Mr. Barton:

Q.  The grassy area above the Doolittle Hanger, immediately — between Doolittle Hanger and Airport Boulevard, was anything done in that area?

A.  Yes, we used heavy equipment to line this grassy area between the trees.

Q.  What was that for?

A.  To avoid having anyone — avoid having someone coming in off of Airport Boulevard and just slamming into our building, whether it be just a car accident or a car bomb type of situation.

Q.  And that entire area was lined with heavy equipment?

A.  This whole area was lined with heavy equipment.

Q.  Where was it intended that people coming to this particular location were to park?

A.  There was a college off Lexington Avenue up top of this diagram that there was a parking lot at, and that’s where they were supposed to park.

Q.  How were they to approach?

A.  They were supposed to walk. It’s only about, I believe, a quarter of a mile. {p.1-18}

Q.  And where were they to gather to enter into the Doolittle Hanger?

A.  Well, all the particular guests were to line up along this fence line, along the top part of the building here on the public side, and then come around the right side of the building into where the metal detectors were set up.

Q.  During the visit on the 24th, was the airport to remain open, the terminal to remain open?

A.  Yes.

Q.  You mentioned setting up the restricted area, would you describe for the court where the restricted area — the Secret Service established around the Doolittle Hanger?

A.  The restricted area went from along Airport Boulevard up to the next intersection to the left of this diagram — which I’m not sure of the street name on that — about 100 yards up Lexington Avenue to the top of this diagram, basically to the mouth of the parking lot entrance, I believe, for the college.

The Court:  What’s that road?

The Witness:  This is Lexington Avenue.

The Court:  Lexington Avenue. Okay.

A.  And then down Airport Boulevard all the way to 302, which was the motorcade route, primary and emergency.

By Mr. Barton:

Q.  Okay. And how about back down toward the bottom of the diagram? {p.1-19}

A.  Back down toward the bottom of the diagram, all this area actually on the diagram came in through — I believe this is Eagle Aviation here — came in through Eagle Aviation and on the Tarmac to the fence line of the building to the right of this diagram would have been our secure area —

Q.  Now —

A.  — or restricted area.

Q.  And why does the Secret Service establish this restricted area?

A.  To protect the president from being harmed.

Q.  Okay. How were the parameters or the dimensions of where the restricted area is conveyed to the police, for instance?

A.  We told them. We discussed it with them. We tell them.

Q.  And while you were out there the week ahead of time, is that when you determined where you thought the — should be, the restricted area should be?

A.  Yes, based on what the staff told us he was going to do, the president was going to do, we build our security around it and we discuss it with the police. And during that whole week we talk about where it should be.

Q.  Does the Secret Service place any — on this visit, on the 24th — any barricades, cones — how was it an individual would know where the restricted area was?

A.  We put the police and the agents out.

Q.  Okay. And so at the end of each one of those descriptions {p.1-20} or areas you described —

A.  Yes.

Q.  — a police officer and an agent would have been posted; is that your testimony?

A.  That’s correct.

Q.  How does the Secret Service determine who can enter or pass through a restricted area?

A.  Well, in this scenario we were assuming anyone coming to the venue would be authorized to come here.

Q.  How did the person gain access into the venue? Did they have to have anything to get in?

A.  Into the Doolittle Hanger, for the event itself, they needed to have a ticket that the staff prints.

Q.  Is the Secret Service involved in the printing, distribution, or checking of the tickets?

A.  No.

Q.  So, I believe you said you assumed everyone coming there was continuing to go to the Doolittle Hanger?

Mr. Pitts:  Objection, leading.

The Court:  That’s sustained.

By Mr. Barton:

Q.  Well, how do you determine who is entitled to enter or pass through the restricted area?

A.  In this case the police were asking folks that came across if they had tickets; if they did, to go to the line. {p.1-21}

The Court:  Came across where?

The Witness:  From the parking lot.

The Court:  The parking lot is to the north?

The Witness:  Is this the north in this diagram?

Mr. Barton:  I believe that is in fact —

The Witness:  If up is north on this diagram, that is correct.

The Court:  Well, north on the diagram, put it that way.

The Witness:  Yes.

By Mr. Barton:

Q.  The top of the diagram?

A.  The top of the diagram was the parking lot for the school. And for that matter, if anyone came from anywhere walking up, if they didn’t come from the parking lot, if they walked up to the Doolittle Hanger, we would assume that they were coming to the event.

Q.  What would change that assumption?

A.  Anything unusual about people not going to the line, not having a ticket.

Q.  How do you determine who passed through? Were cars allowed on Airport Boulevard?

A.  Yes, they were, up until right before his arrival, yes, we would allow cars to pass through.

Q.  And why is that? {p.1-22}

A.  Just to effect the commerce of the area, allow airport business to be conducted. And we let them pass through, we don’t let them stay. We would let them pass through.

Q.  Okay. You can take your seat back.

Is it — does the United States Secret Service on a visit such as this ever completely close all access to a restricted area?

A.  On a visit such as this there’s — no.

Q.  How about — at no point is access —

A.  Well, at some point, right when the president is about to arrive, we shut down all access, even to Airport Boulevard, in this case, to all traffic and all foot traffic, yes.

Q.  What if somebody has got a ticket?

A.  They wouldn’t be allowed in at that point.

Q.  Why is that done?

A.  For the same reason — well, it’s so that no one can cause — cause the president harm. At that point they are not — they are in our secure or restricted area, but they are not screened until they come to the building.

And with his arrival being imminent, we don’t want anyone who is unknown, but may be authorized to be there but unknown to us — for example, someone with a ticket — in that area.

Q.  Are there individuals who are known — how do you determine who is allowed in that area, once it’s completely shut down? {p.1-23}

A.  The law enforcement we place there, so we know them. There is also — we have a lapel pen identification system that we issue for every visit that identifies certain entities, such as staff or military, communications people, so forth, that we are going to authorize to be in our secure or restricted area.

Q.  And was it the intent of the Secret Service on this visit to at some point shut down the entire restricted area, as you have described it here?

A.  Yes.

Q.  Why was this intersection shut down, Agent Cohen?

A.  Two reasons. One, it was our emergency egress upon arrival, and our primary egress for when we left for the motorcade route when we departed. And also it was in close proximity to the arrival area, close enough that someone standing there that was unscreened could cause harm.

Q.  What type of harm were you concerned about from someone standing there?

A.  Anything from pistol fire to throwing rocks to introducing a chemical or biological agent in the air in that area.

Q.  And you said that was your primary emergency egress route?

A.  That’s correct.

Q.  What type of emergency are you talking about?

A.  Anything from an attack, to an actual emergency, we have to get him somewhere safe. Or even a broken leg, if he falls, or something like that, we want to be able to have that area clear {p.1-24} so we can go to the hospital.

Q.  And are you familiar with how the motorcade intended to approach the Doolittle Hanger and then leave the Doolittle Hanger? Are you familiar with the motorcade route?

A.  Yes, I am. He was supposed to come into the hanger from the Tarmac side —

Q.  Why don’t you get down and point out to the court —

A.  On this diagram the airport arrival is to the left of the diagram, that’s where the plane stopped and the president entered the motorcade.

They came down the Tarmac going from left to right on the diagram, and then turned up to the lower left-hand side of the Doolittle Hanger on this diagram. That was the arrival.

For departure they were going to pull out across this parking lot, make a slow — it’s almost a U-turn onto Airport Boulevard, which is a right-hand turn on this diagram, down to 302.

Q.  And where was the president intending to go after — upon departing?

A.  The Sheraton Hotel downtown.

Q.  What was the purpose of going to the Sheraton Hotel downtown?

A.  I believe he had some downtime and maybe a meeting or something in the suite that he was — that he had downtime.

Q.  Was this a public event or — {p.1-25}

A.  No, it wasn’t.

Q.  Okay. From the time the motorcade would have left Doolittle Hanger until it arrived at the Sheraton, do you have an opinion, based on your experience, as to where the presidential limousine would have been traveling the slowest?

A.  At this turn at — from Doolittle Hanger onto Airport Boulevard.

Q.  Are you referring on this diagram to the intersection of Airport Boulevard and Lexington Avenue?

A.  That’s correct.

Q.  As part of the planning before the president’s actual arrival on the 24th, are you familiar with whether or not an area for demonstrators had been designated?

A.  An area had been designated by the police, yes.

Q.  What is the Secret Service’s role in the demonstration area? You can return to your seat, I’m sorry.

A.  Thanks. It depends on the state we go to, because all the states have different laws on demonstrations areas. But we just coordinate with the police to find out if they are going to set up the demonstration area, and if so that it doesn’t interfere with our security plans.

Q.  Okay. What other role, if any, does the Secret Service have with that?

A.  With the selection of the —

Q.  Yes. {p.1-26}

A.  We just want to make sure that it doesn’t interfere with our security plan or public safety, as far as — we discuss it with the police but we don’t pick it out.

Q.  Do you tell the police to set up a demonstration area?

A.  No.

Q.  Was one established for the visit on October 24th?

A.  Yes, there was.

Q.  Do you know the location of it?

A.  It was at the corner of Airport Boulevard and 302.

Q.  And did it meet your security requirements or concerns?

A.  Yeah, it was far enough away from our routes and sites that we — it didn’t —

Q.  How did you learn of the designation of that and its location?

A.  On the — we discussed it with the police and they had told us that this would be the designated demonstration area and asked us if it was a problem for us being there, and we said no.

Q.  When you say the police, who are you talking about? Do you know?

A.  I believe it was an airport police officer, but I don’t remember.

Q.  Who is in charge of that demonstration area, or monitors it or mans it or watches it or secures it, I guess?

A.  The police. {p.1-27}

Q.  The Secret Service involved in that?

A.  No, not unless we thought the demonstration would be — would cause harm in some way to the president.

Q.  Did you have any information about, prior to this visit, any information about any demonstration that would cause harm or concern to the president?

A.  No.

Q.  Okay. I want to direct your attention specifically to the day of October 24th, 2002. Did President George Bush visit Columbia that day?

A.  Yes, he did.

Q.  Do you recall what time — approximately what time he was scheduled to arrive?

A.  Approximately noon.

Q.  Okay. What time did you arrive at the airport that day?

A.  Approximately 6 a.m.

Q.  And what did you — six hours before the president?

A.  Correct.

Q.  What did you do during that period of time?

A.  The post standers, the agents that I had reporting to me were to be there at 7, and the police as well. Then we posted the perimeter with the police and the secure area with our agents as well.

And by 7:30 we began a bomb sweep of the area. And there was supposed to be between 5 and 6,000 people there, so {p.1-28} we had to have it all complete, with enough time to process them into metal detectors, prior to his arrival.

Q.  Do you recall what time people were going to be allowed to go into the hanger, when the doors were going to open up?

A.  I believe it was supposed to be 10 o’clock. I think the tickets told them to be there by 9:30.

Q.  Okay, what else did you do? You were there at 6, what is going on?

A.  We — once the perimeter is set, a bomb sweep takes place, it takes about two hours to do that. And during that time we facilitate, making sure that our security plan is working, making sure that our perimeter site, our secure area is secure and restricted, and while also allowing businesses in the area to conduct business.

Q.  Okay. As people on that morning arrived, were there any problems concerning crowd control and where they were?

A.  Yes, there were.

Q.  What were those?

A.  The staff actually was a little bit late in being ready to let the public into the hanger, and the president was scheduled to be there — not scheduled, he was arriving early.

So, it cut down our time to allow people to get into the event. And there was a large line that went past Eagle Aviation, which is to the left of this, on this diagram, all the way along the parking lot in front of Doolittle Hanger to {p.1-29} the metal detectors.

Q.  Why don’t you take that pointer and show the court where.

A.  The line went from the metal detectors all the way back and up, off this diagram. It was a long line.

Q.  And what concerns did that present to you as the site agent?

A.  Well, with him being early and us not being able to process everyone in, in my mind at the time, I didn’t think we could get everyone in on time for his arrival.

With his arrival being here — that’s the arrival door, as I pointed out earlier — and all these unscreened, unknown public that had tickets out there, they were in an area that I didn’t want anyone in for security purposes.

Q.  So, what did you do? You can sit down, unless you need the diagram. How did you handle the crowd?

A.  What I did is, I didn’t think everyone was going to get in, because he was early. So, I wanted to back the beginning of this line up.

So, we took two police officers and some police tape and basically they held it up in front of the line, and just lifted it up, walked back 30 people, and dropped it, and let those 30 go ahead. And once they filed all the way down to the metal detectors, they did it again.

Eventually, the beginning of the line came back to an area that was without — in my mind, out of an area of concern, {p.1-30} in a harmful way, that anyone in that line wouldn’t be able to cause the president harm.

Q.  How about, were people still arriving in the parking lot?

A.  Yes, they were.

Q.  Was anything done to control those people?

A.  Yes. I had the police that were with me by the hanger radio to a police officer that was at the neck of that parking lot to keep — have them keep all those people over there until this line filed down, so we do not add to this line.

Q.  And where were you during all of this process?

A.  I was all over in this area. I was walking back and forth between sites, seeing how the processing was going, and also out here trying to spearhead backing this line up and making this a sterile area for arrival.

Q.  Were you able to get everybody in?

A.  We were able to get everybody in.

Q.  Were you able to get everybody in before the area was completely closed down to anybody else coming in?

A.  Yes.

Q.  Did the president arrive early, or was he on time?

A.  He was five minutes early.

Q.  Okay.

A.  They did arrive to the airspace early, but because the staff wasn’t ready to have a hanger full and all the guests in, they called up Air Force One and had them circle so that we {p.1-31} could — so they could facilitate getting everyone in, because they knew once he arrived I wasn’t going to let anyone in.

Q.  So, they made the president wait on y’all?

A.  They made them wait.

Q.  Did there come a time prior to the president’s arrival when the entire area was in fact shut down?

A.  Yes.

Q.  Before we get to that, two things, was there any consideration of this being what is known as a tented arrival?

A.  Yes, there was consideration of that.

Q.  And tell the court what that is.

A.  We set up a tent, usually 20 by 30 feet for the motorcade, for the car, the limo to actually pull into so that no one can see him get out of the car. And it’s usually to help aid with the long range threat, a sniper type threat.

Q.  And what parts of a presidential visit like this are of the most concern to Secret Service?

A.  Our arrivals and departures.

Q.  Why is that?

A.  Because history has shown that most attacks happen at arrivals and departures.

Q.  Okay. While you were out here dealing with this crowd, did you see — do you know Agent Holly Able?

A.  Yes, I do.

Q.  Did you see her in conversations with anyone out in this {p.1-32} general area?

A.  Yes, I did.

Q.  Do you know what they were talking about? Did you participate in any of that conversation?

A.  No, I did not.

Q.  But you saw them out there talking?

A.  Yes, I did.

Q.  Do you recall approximately where they were?

A.  They were in the vicinity of the parkway on the corner of Airport Boulevard and the parking lot of Doolittle Hanger by the Lexington — or by the intersection.

Q.  Why don’t you point that out.

A.  They were in this vicinity here.

Q.  And I believe that little red or that little white square there says “stop sign;” is that right?

A.  That’s correct.

Q.  Somewhere in that area?

A.  Somewhere in that area.

Q.  Okay. I was asking you if prior to the president’s arrival this entire area was shut down?

A.  Correct.

Q.  How was that communicated to everyone out there?

A.  When we hear on the radio that Air Force One was on final approach, I knew that I had about 10 minutes before he would leave the airplane at — the airplane would stop at the airport {p.1-33} where the motorcade would pick him up. And that was going to be my sign to shut down everything, which would allow me about 10 or 15 minutes.

Q.  And was this area in fact shut down at that time?

A.  When I saw Agent Able talking to somebody, no, it wasn’t.

Q.  How long did it take to shut it down?

A.  How long after that?

Q.  Yes, if you can recall.

A.  I — five or 10 minutes.

Q.  Okay. Was any traffic allowed on Airport Boulevard at that time?

A.  When we shut it down? No.

Q.  After you shut it down.

A.  No.

Q.  Were any individuals allowed to come down Lexington Avenue or from any other direction to enter Doolittle Hanger?

Mr. Pitts:  Objection, he’s leading, Your Honor.

The Court:  That’s not a leading question, Your Honor.

The Court:  That’s overruled.

A.  No, there was no one allowed. That area was to be sterile.

By Mr. Barton:

Q.  And who was allowed in that area? Who was authorized at that point to be in that area?

A.  Just the known authorized individuals that we discussed, {p.1-34} being military police, law enforcement, staff, communications folks.

Q.  Did the president arrive without incident?

A.  Yes, he did.

Q.  Was the restricted area at any point opened back up?

A.  Yes.

Q.  After his arrival?

A.  Yes.

Q.  At what point?

A.  Once he was inside, and I would say two or three minutes after the dust settles, we open it back up.

Q.  Who was traveling with the president on Air Force One that participated in this event?

A.  Secret Service-wise or anybody?

Q.  Anybody.

A.  There’s staff, there are communication folks, sometimes there’s guests. Congressional delegation sometimes and also Secret Service.

Q.  And when —

A.  Press as well.

Q.  When the restricted area was opened back up, who was it opened back up to?

A.  When you say the restricted area opened back up, I mean open back up like it was at 7:30 in the morning where we allowed traffic to go back toward — you know, at the airport, {p.1-35} allow commerce at the airport and other business along Airport Boulevard. But other than that, right around the hanger, it was still shut down, there was no one allowed to come in.

Q.  And that intersection of Airport Boulevard and Lexington Avenue, were individuals allowed in that area?

A.  Not to stay there. They could pass through to go to the airport, but they couldn’t stay there.

Q.  Okay. Was the restricted area closed again prior to the president’s departure from Doolittle Hanger?

A.  Yes, it was.

Q.  How long — how did you know when to shut it down?

A.  Typically when he’s — he gives a speech and then he goes down and shakes hands — we call it the rope line, shaking hands along the rope line — when he’s about halfway down the rope line, we typically go ahead and start shutting the road down and the area for — to prepare for his departure.

Q.  And were any vehicles allowed on — once it was shut at that point, were any vehicles allowed on Airport Boulevard, Lexington Avenue, anywhere in that area?

A.  Just motorcade vehicles.

Q.  Other than the motorcade —

A.  No.

Q.  — and other than the known authorized people in that area, were any individuals ultimately to be allowed in that area?

A.  No, that was going to remain sterile again for {p.1-36} the departure.

Mr. Barton:  Excuse me one moment.

That’s all the questions I have, Agent Cohen, please answer any questions that counsel may have.

The Court:  Mr. Pitts or Mr. Wise, who is going to do it?

Mr. Pitts:  Yes, sir.

The Court:  Mr. Pitts?

Mr. Pitts:  Yes, sir. May I have one moment, Your Honor?

The Court:  Yes, sir.

Cross Examination

By Mr. Pitts:

Q.  Agent Cohen, my name is Lewis Pitts, representing Mr. Bursey, and this is Mr. Rauch Wise at the table. I have a few questions for you.

I assume there was quite an inquiry in the picking out the safest motorcade route, to arrive and depart?

A.  There always is, look at all the routes.

Q.  And you described the intersection of Airport Boulevard and Lexington Drive as — and the Tarmac as the most dangerous part of the motorcade route?

A.  I would actually say the arrival, the actual arrival and departure would be the most dangerous part.

Q.  But of the motorcade route, I believe you told Mr. Barton {p.1-37} that the U-turn there near that intersection —

A.  That is a very dangerous part, because it’s going so slow, the car is going so slow.

Q.  And did you explore ways for the presidential motorcade to exit Doolittle Hanger without going through that intersection?

A.  I didn’t explore any ways for the motorcade to go, the motorcade advance agent would have.

Q.  But as the site agent in charge, you didn’t review that to see — you spent seven days there prior to the event?

A.  Right. My — our responsibility — we actually have a point of demarcation between the site and the motorcade, as far as areas of responsibility for the security, so we don’t duplicate efforts and have, you know, “I will take care of this, you take care of that.”

And the motorcade advance agent told me we were leaving this way. And then — when I say that, I mean from the corner of Doolittle Hanger to the Airport Boulevard and Lexington Avenue intersection and taking a right. That’s their decision, not mine, in conjunction with the lead advance agent.

Q.  But I would assume if you thought that was an inappropriate decision you could checkmate that or at least raise it for discussion, could you not?

A.  Well, the motorcade has to make turns and slow down at some point, so that was in their opinion the best. I wouldn’t make a change on that, no. {p.1-38}

Q.  And that return route carried the motorcade right up into the intersection where most of the cars carrying the 5 to 6,000 expected persons had turned and gone down to park near that college; is that correct?

A.  When you say the return route, you mean the route downtown to the Sheraton?

Q.  Yes, the return route to the Sheraton?

Mr. Barton:  I’m sorry, I don’t understand. He didn’t return —

A.  He never came from the Sheraton, he came from the airport?

By Mr. Pitts:

Q.  No, I understand, when he left Doolittle Hanger —

A.  Yes.

Q.  — the motorcade went through that intersection, which was the very intersection where most of the cars had traveled and people had parked and walked?

A.  That’s correct.

Q.  And would you be surprised to learn that there were at least two entranceways back onto Airport Boulevard that would be to the right of this diagram that would avoid going through that intersection completely?

A.  I don’t know. I don’t know about the other entrances to the airport, I was just concerned about the area around Doolittle Hanger.

The motorcade advance agent would pick out the {p.1-39} routes, I was concerned about my site, which is Doolittle Hanger, and the surrounding area.

So, yeah, there could have been — I’m sure there are more gates to the airport, but I don’t know where they were. When the motorcade advance person tells me the route, I base where my security drops off and where his picks up, his or hers picks up at that point.

Q.  Well, you don’t disagree that there are two entranceways onto Airport Boulevard —

A.  I don’t know. I don’t know.

Q.  — that would avoid that —

A.  I don’t know.

Q.  — intersection? You didn’t consider that part of your responsibilities as the advance team leader?

A.  No, because that would have been on the — I wasn’t the advance team leader, I was the site person, and the motorcade advance agent would have picked that out.

And also it takes into account police posting and manpower, not just where we can slow down — you know, if it’s manpower efficient to go a certain way, they do it that way as well, as long as we can still secure the route.

Q.  And do you know Secret Service Agent Dolan?

A.  Yes.

Q.  Who is that, sir?

A.  He — he, I believe, was the motorcade advance agent on {p.1-40} this trip from the president’s detail.

Q.  From what?

A.  Presidential protective division.

Q.  And Agent Dolan is based in South Carolina, is he not?

A.  No, he’s not.

Q.  Where is he the special — where is he assigned?

A.  Oh, I’m sorry, Neal Dolan —

Q.  Neal Dolan.

A.  Neal Dolan was not the motorcade advance agent, he’s the special agent in charge here in the office.

Q.  And he was on site and in charge of security that day?

A.  No.

Q.  The security plan?

A.  No, that’s not really how it works. I would have been in charge of the security at that site. The special agent in charge has a vested interest because it is his district, but they provide the — our counterparts from the field office, and also approve the manpower requests that goes to investigation to send forth the post standers. The security plan comes from the president’s detail.

Q.  Just one moment.

If Agent Dolan testified before Federal Judge Matthew Perry on May the 8th and was asked this question —

Mr. Barton:  Your Honor, this is clearly pitting one witness against another. He’s got Agent Dolan under subpoena, {p.1-41} that’s a proper question for Agent Dolan, not as to what Agent Dolan’s testimony was.

Mr. Pitts:  I’m trying to see if I can refresh his recollection about who was in charge of security, Judge.

The Court:  Well, he doesn’t need his recollection refreshed, he’s already testified that he was in charge.

Mr. Pitts:  But there’s a separate agent who has testified under oath —

The Court:  That’s the testimony. Now, if you have got Agent Dolan under subpoena and you put him on the stand, you can see if he testifies to something different. But he’s already —

Your testimony is you were in charge, isn’t that correct?

The Witness:  I’m in charge of this site, being the agent from the president’s detail. While he is a special agent in charge of this district, of the Columbia, South Carolina district, he has a concern, obviously, about all the security arrangements that the president detail has made. But the actual person in charge of this site was me.

The Court:  He doesn’t need his —

By Mr. Pitts:

Q.  So, if he was asked if he was in charge of the security zone and he said yes, that would be incorrect?

A.  He has an interest — {p.1-42}

Mr. Barton:  The same objection, Your Honor, this is not the question —

The Court:  That’s the same — you can ask Agent Dolan that.

Mr. Pitts:  All right, Your Honor.

The Witness:  He might feel that way on his own as well. But as far as from the president’s detail, I was in charge. And my boss — my boss is not Neal Dolan.

By Mr. Pitts:

Q.  All right. Would you explain to me what a post stander is?

A.  A post stander is an agent, a special agent that we bring in based on the security needs of the site agent, as far as — he’s given instructions on how —

The Court:  That’s a post stander?

The Witness:  Post stander, yes.

The Court:  All right.

A.  It’s basically — it’s an agent that we give instructions to, what he’s supposed to do at this — at his spot at the venue, with his area of responsibility, to insure that the venue stays secure.

By Mr. Pitts:

Q.  And how many post standers were established for the president’s visit October 24th?

A.  We don’t like to talk about specific numbers, but I would say that we imported for the entire visit between 50 and 100. {p.1-43}

Q.  If there were post stander documents numbered 210 or 211, would that mean there were 211?

A.  Not necessarily.

Q.  How would that work, would some officers have dual posts?

A.  Some would have dual posts. And just because a series number starts with 200 doesn’t mean there’s 200 people there, it’s just an arbitrary number given a site. Meaning, the first site could be the 100 series, the next site the 200 series.

Q.  I see. And so are all of those people assigned to those duties federal people?

A.  As a post stander, yes.

Q.  Would they all be Secret Service, or could be other federal officials?

A.  On this visit they were all Secret Service.

Q.  Okay.

A.  During the campaign sometimes we have to use other employees, customs agents — customs or IRS agents, other agents.

Q.  And as a standard operating procedure, is it the policy that the secured area for presidential visits is in some way demarked with barricades, sometimes it’s bicycle racks, sometimes it’s tractor trailer trucks, barrels — is that true as a general policy?

A.  No, I think every site is looked at differently and sometimes you might have bike racks, sometimes you might have {p.1-44} people standing there to demark your area.

Q.  And was there any plan ever to have bicycle racks at this event at the hanger, Doolittle Hanger?

A.  I did have bicycle racks at this hanger.

Q.  You did have?

A.  Yes.

Q.  And would you indicate where those were on the diagram?

A.  Sure. It was on the Tarmac between the metal detector area and around to the bottom left corner of the building on this diagram.

The Court:  Around the front of the building, southern side?

The Witness:  If you will call the Tarmac the front, yes.

The Court:  All right.

The Witness:  It’s around the open bay — bay doors for the hanger.

By Mr. Pitts:

Q.  Thank you. Were there any bicycle racks to the — as we look at the chart to the left of the hanger?

A.  I don’t recall any there. I didn’t request them to be there.

Q.  And in fact I believe you testified earlier that there is a wire fence, screen mesh fence that goes — that runs to the left of the hanger? {p.1-45}

A.  That’s correct.

Q.  Would you take the marker and indicate where that fence exists?

A.  It’s actually drawn on here. There’s one here and there’s another one that comes here actually as well.

Q.  So, there are two fences that preexisted October 24th that were there on October 24th that would have served as barriers for anybody without authorization to come into the Tarmac area; is that correct?

A.  Yes, correct.

Q.  And on the other side of the hanger where there was not such a fence, that’s where you put the bike racks?

A.  Yes, on this side of the hanger were the bike racks.

Q.  Okay. Thank you, you can return to your seat.

And the Secret Service policy manual, et cetera, divides the area into two categories, is that not correct, the secure area, and where I think your manual has called the general public area; is that correct?

A.  I believe so.

Q.  And if a person is not in the secure area, then they are allowed to walk and exist consistent with the local police and ordinances and local laws; is that correct?

A.  That’s correct.

Q.  How about people who are in the general public area who want to engage in political expression, carry a sign, for {p.1-46} example? Is that okay by the Secret Service?

A.  Yes.

Q.  And do you know of any incidents where Secret Service agents have directed local authorities to arrest or remove people who are in a general public area who are attempting to express First Amendment rights?

Mr. Barton:  Your Honor, I’m going to object to that for a couple of reasons. It has nothing to do with this case. If he wants to stop right here, that’s fine, if that’s sufficient, I can —

The Court:  Well, you can ask the witness if he knows whether that event happened here at this particular event.

By Mr. Pitts:

Q.  Do you know if that happened on October 24th?

A.  What specifically? If one of our agents told someone — please repeat it, I’m sorry.

Q.  If the Secret Service agent — I asked if you knew of any incidents — and the judge has said refine that to be on October 24th right now — where Secret Service agents have instructed local police to arrest or remove someone for exercising their First Amendment rights?

The Court:  In the general public area?

By Mr. Pitts:

Q.  In the general public area?

A.  No. {p.1-47}

The Court:  Show us where the general public area was on this map.

The Witness:  Well, the general public area — this is all still restricted area. The general public area would have been beyond, about 100 yards up, like I told you earlier, up Lexington Avenue, to the next intersection down on the left of the map, to 302, and also around Doolittle Hanger to the edge of the bike rack, which technically really isn’t public because it’s inside of an airport Tarmac, and around basically the whole side of this — left side of this diagram.

The Court:  Well, that whole side of that diagram was in the posted area?

The Witness:  Yeah, I would say up to about — we had — this is Eagle Aviation on the left side of this diagram.

The Court:  Right.

The Witness:  Up to about Eagle Aviation, is where we kept this. Of course, this was Tarmac, so it is already restricted access anyway.

The Court:  Right.

The Witness:  So, what we are really talking about, as far as everything from the next intersection down —

The Court:  Anything to the left of that intersection?

The Witness:  Everything down to 302 — I’m sorry, 302 this way, to the right of the diagram, to the next {p.1-48} intersection this way, which I don’t know the name of this street, and up to the 100 yards past the intersection of Lexington and Airport Boulevard.

The Court:  North?

The Witness:  North.

The Court:  What about west?

The Witness:  To the next intersection down here, which I can’t recall the name of that street.

The Court:  So that was a restricted area?

The Witness:  Restricted area.

The Court:  From that intersection left, to the next intersection?

The Witness:  Correct.

The Court:  Okay.

By Mr. Pitts:

Q.  Which was about — would you give an estimate in terms of how far that was?

A.  No, I don’t know. I don’t know.

Q.  Do you remember the name of that street being called Lester Bates?

A.  I don’t recall. I just remember looking at that and said that would be a good spot for the edge of it.

Q.  Can you remember if it was about an equal distance down to Lester Bates, or the other — the ending point, as there was to 302 on the other side? {p.1-49}

A.  It may have been a little closer, but I don’t know.

Q.  Now, I believe you told the judge that was a restricted area, but it wasn’t a restricted area except for a certain time frame, correct?

A.  No, it’s all a restricted area, from the time we put up our perimeter, but we allowed — to allow airport commerce, we let some people go through.

Q.  So, when did you put up your perimeter?

A.  7:30 in the morning.

Q.  So, from 7:30 that morning until the president had departed, that entire area that you have described was deemed to be a secure area?

A.  A restricted area, yes. But we do allow some people to pass through that area.

Q.  About 4,000 that day, correct?

A.  Yeah, they were invited guests authorized to be there, and also people that had business down Airport Boulevard. We — just to avoid affecting commerce, we have to facilitate that.

Q.  So, help me again with the idea of you restricted it starting at 7:30, but then it was open at some point, and then it closed at some point?

A.  It was restricted from 7:30 in the morning until the president left Doolittle Hanger. But during that — the restrictions doesn’t mean people can’t pass through our secure area or our restricted area. {p.1-50}

Q.  And who is making the discretionary decision about who can go in that area and who can’t go in that area? Is there one individual that is making that discretionary call?

A.  Well, there’s probably many, actually, police officers — “Do you have a ticket for this event? Go park there. If you are going to the airport, go ahead up here —”

Q.  So, the lifting —

A.  “If you are going to school, go that way.”

Q.  So, the lifting or dropping of the secure area is not limited to Secret Service personnel?

A.  No, that’s still — that’s not lifting or dropping it. When we — if we really — it’s not lifting it. It’s still a restricted area.

If you have business in there, you can pass through that area, until, of course the president is on imminent arrival. Then we shut it all down for no traffic at all, which only inconveniences businesses in the airport, at the airport, and down Airport Boulevard for a short period of time.

Q.  But my question is, who has the authority to exercise the discretion to decide who has business within there such that they are allowed to go within that very largely restricted area? Is it limited to just Secret Service agents?

A.  No, we instructed the police also if they — if somebody had to pass through our restricted area, they could do it.

If they had business at the airport, or if they said {p.1-51} they had business at the airport, and didn’t otherwise — if they didn’t otherwise display some action that would say they didn’t have business at the airport.

For example, if someone said, “I’m going to the airport and set up a picnic out here,” they wouldn’t have been allowed to stay. But if they went to the airport, they were allowed to go.

Q.  And were there — was there a written diagram with this secure area marked on it as part of all of this preparation you have described to the court?

A.  Not the entire area, no.

Q.  So, there never was a drawing to indicate to any of the authorities that were assisting you where the secure area began and where it ended; is that correct?

A.  That’s correct. We were out there all week and we walked every inch of it. So, it was pretty defined. And then when the police show up with — I have a police counterpart that works with me, and when they come out, I tell them, “There should be a guy here and this is his responsibility,” and we talk about it.

And then at 7 in the morning on the day of the visit, my police counterpart takes his police assets and posts them based on what we talked about and gives them their verbal instructions.

Q.  Was there ever any written criteria, written criteria {p.1-52} issued to SLED, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department, or Airport Metropolitan Police to instruct them on how to determine who could legitimately go within this area that was restricted starting at 7:30 a.m.?

A.  Not to my knowledge. I didn’t author anything like that.

Q.  Was there ever a meeting that you were present at where every officer from the various agencies I have just described came together to discuss the plans for that day?

A.  Not that I was present at. When they all show up at 7 o’clock and are posted by the police, I’m busy posting the post standers at the same time.

The Secret Service doesn’t go around posting police because they have their own command, they do it. And we discuss our security plans together.

Q.  But it’s the Secret Service that made the decision on what was secure, not local and state authorities, correct?

A.  In conjunction with them we do it, yes. We, in conjunction with the police, define our restricted area.

Q.  Now —

A.  We obviously have to facilitate — we can’t shut the airport down from 7 in the morning until noon, so we have to facilitate some means for regular commerce in this scenario.

I mean, there are some venues we can go to and completely shut it down because we own the whole thing and there is no other way — we are not going to intrude on {p.1-53} anyone’s commerce.

Here, obviously, we have to allow people to go through. So, we facilitate that, and at the last possible moment shut everything down to all movement and create a sterile — completely sterile environment around our arrival and motorcade routes. And then when we can lift that to a less restriction, we do.

Q.  So, am I hearing you say that if somebody turned off of Highway 302 on to Airport Boulevard at 8 o’clock that morning who wanted to stand on the right-of-way of the highway with a protest sign but didn’t have any other commercial goal, they would be deemed to be within a restricted area?

A.  It wouldn’t matter what they had, they were in a restricted area and had to move on.

Q.  Well, but you just told me if they had a commercial interest business —

A.  If they had a commercial interest on the road, they wouldn’t have been allowed there. As a matter of fact, we did shut down a construction site that was there that day.

They were the ones who let us use their heavy equipment on the parkway between the hanger and the airport. They weren’t going to need them because we asked them not to work that day.

So, yeah, any commercial interest that was going to be on the parkway by Airport Boulevard was not going to be {p.1-54} allowed to be there that day, but if they wanted to pass through our zone we would allow that.

Q.  Now, do you have any written criteria by which you — and standards by which you can determine, or did determine, that a commercially interested vehicle or person who would be allowed to pass through starting even during the secure zone in effect at 7:30, would not be deemed a security risk to the president?

A.  No.

Q.  So, that was pretty much a guess, because they were doing commerce they wouldn’t be a threat to the president?

A.  They could have billboards on trucks going up and down with whatever they wanted to say on them all day long as far as I cared, as long as they didn’t stop.

Q.  They could have bombs in those same trucks too, couldn’t they?

A.  Which would be a horrible thing, however the president wasn’t there. So, it wouldn’t have been, from my standpoint, aside from my own personal safety, the personal safety of my colleagues and all the public that was there that would be injured by the bomb, my job is to protect the president who wasn’t there.

Q.  And the president wasn’t there at 7:30, but the president also wasn’t there at 8 o’clock when I gave you the hypothetical about the person who wanted to stand on the side of the road of Airport Boulevard with a sign. {p.1-55}

A.  Right, the problem —

Q.  So, that person wouldn’t be a threat to the president either, would he?

A.  I don’t — I don’t know that he would be a threat or not.

Q.  Well, is the criteria whether or not the president is there or not there?

A.  Yeah, if you remain there when the president arrives, in that sterile area, we don’t know if he’s a threat or not. So, we prefer to have people go through the area so we don’t have to deal with them right before the president’s arrival as far as trying to remove somebody if they don’t want to leave.

So, we allow — we set up our secure or restricted area so that people can pass through that have commerce, but not stay during that time.

Q.  But those very people who pass through with commerce could be a threat and a danger, right?

A.  They could be. But as long as they keep going, they are not. If they stay there, then they present a danger when the president arrives. If they pass through, they don’t present a danger when the president arrives.

Q.  So, let me just be sure I understand your testimony. Let’s say there are two vehicles coming down Highway 302, both of them turn and take a right on Airport Boulevard heading towards the airport, and it’s 8 o’clock a.m. that morning. The first vehicle is a commercial vehicle of some sort, you can tell by {p.1-56} the markings on it.

A.  All right.

Q.  The vehicle behind it is a standard automobile with four people with peace bumper stickers on it. The vehicle, the first one, the commercial vehicle, is allowed to drive through?

A.  That’s correct.

Q.  And — but the vehicle with the four people with the peace bumper sticker that pulled over to the public right-of-way and stopped and got out and produced peace signs, they would not be allowed to stay there? They would be told to leave?

A.  That’s correct. And neither would the vehicle with commercial interests on it be able to stop there. If the four people in the car drove through, that’s fine, but they can’t stop and stay in our restricted area.

Q.  Now —

A.  That same — we would treat the commerce vehicle, the plumbing truck, or whatever have you, in front of that car the same way if they tried to stop there.

Q.  On October —

A.  You are saying two different things when you give that example.

Q.  On October 24th, was there a post stander posted at that intersection of 302 and Airport Boulevard that stopped every vehicle that turned in?

A.  That turned in where? {p.1-57}

Q.  That turned off of 302 onto Airport Boulevard heading toward Doolittle Hanger?

A.  At 302 and Airport Boulevard, no, there was not. There was a police officer there.

Q.  There was a police officer?

A.  (Nods head in the affirmative).

Q.  Did the police officer stop every vehicle?

A.  I don’t think so.

Q.  And in fact hundreds, or at least enough vehicles to transport over 4,000 people, were allowed to turn down that highway, correct?

A.  Correct. I believe they were screened at a later point and asked where they were going and their intent.

Q.  And whatever they said was taken at face value?

A.  Unless they — yes, it was taken at face value unless they indicated some other actions that would say they weren’t going to do what they say.

For example, if they said they were going to the airport and set up a picnic, like I said before, right there on the hanger ground, that’s not going to the airport for commerce.

Q.  Now, I believe you testified previously that when you first saw Secret Service Agent Able speaking to someone, it was in the grassy knoll area there near the intersection of Airport and Lexington on the hanger side of Airport? {p.1-58}

A.  That general vicinity, yes.

Q.  And I believe you also testified at that point that the area was not closed at that point, correct?

A.  It was a restricted area at that point, yes. It was a restricted area, but closed to — closed to every unknown unauthorized individual? Not at that point.

Q.  It was restricted but not closed? Am I hearing you right on that?

A.  When I say “closed,” I mean sterile area right before the president arrives, correct. It was restricted from 7:30 on.

Q.  And “restricted” means you can’t be in there unless you are an invitee?

A.  You can’t remain there unless you are an invitee or authorized — “authorized” meaning law enforcement, communications folks, staff, people that had to work at the hanger.

Q.  So, there’s a difference in restricted and closed?

A.  There is a difference between the level of restriction we are implementing at that time. We have to allow commerce, we can’t just shut down everything for —

Q.  Isn’t that an argument for maybe being a little more precise on when you describe an area to be secured and restricted so that —

Mr. Barton:  Your Honor —

Mr. Pitts:  I would like to finish my question. {p.1-59}

Mr. Barton:  I will ask — it’s clearly argumentative. He started it off by making an argumentative statement.

Mr. Pitts:  I will withdraw it. Maybe it was my tone of voice, Your Honor.

Mr. Barton:  It wasn’t the tone of voice —

Mr. Pitts:  I will start over.

Mr. Barton:  — it was a statement.

The Court:  He’s just trying to establish at what point a restricted area becomes a closed area, I presume; is that correct?

Mr. Pitts:  Still trying to find that out, yes, sir.

By Mr. Pitts:

Q.  Well, let me ask you, as part of your training as a Secret Service Agent and reading the manual, are you — have you been instructed in the importance of protecting and not chilling citizens’ rights to free speech and to in fact be present at such events with the president in order to protest or demonstrate?

A.  I don’t know the verbiage of our manual. We are told not to interfere with First Amendment rights.

Q.  And an important aspect of not interfering with First Amendment rights would be to narrowly and precisely limit the area to be secured and the time it’s to be secured, wouldn’t it? {p.1-60}

Mr. Barton:  Your Honor, I’m going to object again. This isn’t a question for him. That might be a question for Your Honor, but that is not a question for this witness.

The Court:  Well, he can ask him what is the Secret Service — assuming they have instructions in that area — what those instructions are with respect to dealing with demonstrators who want to demonstrate, exercise their First Amendment right. Does the Secret Service have a policy of how to deal with them, what is the policy, how are demonstrators dealt with on this day, all those —

Mr. Barton:  That was not that question.

By Mr. Pitts:

Q.  Well, Agent Cohen, does the Secret Service have a policy that gives you guidance on how to balance protection of the president with protection of First Amendment rights?

A.  We are instructed to —

Q.  My question is, do you have a policy? Is there a Secret Service policy?

A.  I’m not familiar with that policy. We may or may not.

Q.  All right. The decision to deem restricted, but not closed, 302 at Airport Boulevard and the other end of Airport Boulevard at some distance you are not sure — at the next intersection down there — was that decision yours?

A.  I think in conjunction with the police.

Q.  In conjunction with the police? {p.1-61}

A.  (Nods head in the affirmative).

Q.  What police?

A.  The — I believe that’s county jurisdiction there, so whoever at that point was going to use their assets off their — probably in conjunction with all the police because of the motorcade.

Q.  But given the maxim the buck stops somewhere, is it fair to say that the buck stops with you as the Secret Service Agent rather than the local police who don’t have the responsibility that — it’s similar to yours, they do have a duty to protect the president — but is it fair to say that that was your decision?

A.  Yes, you can say that.

Q.  Now, was your decision to proceed that way screened or reviewed by any of your supervisors?

A.  Yes.

Q.  Who was that?

A.  I don’t recall the — the day before the visit we have what is called the second supervisor come out from D.C. to review our security plan. I don’t recall — he’s also known as the ASAIC, assistant special agent in charge. I don’t remember which ASAIC came out on that visit.

Q.  Is that ASAIC part of the intelligence division that you were discussing, or is that part of the —

A.  No, he’s part — {p.1-62}

Q.  — PPD, presidential protection division?

A.  Part of the PPD.

Q.  But came out of Washington?

A.  Correct.

Q.  And that would have been on October 23rd?

A.  It most likely was the 23rd, but it could have been earlier.

Q.  But you know it happened?

A.  I know it happened.

Q.  And you explained to this person, who’s name you can’t remember, the area that you described to us, its full breadth, and the time in which you planned to implement it?

A.  Yes.

Q.  And he or she gave their stamp of approval to that?

A.  Yes.

Q.  And during that meeting, was there any discussion about whether or not the breadth and scope of that area, and the time which it was to be implemented, was too broad and too sweeping and too vague in light of countervailing and balancing First Amendment rights for people to participate in that area and engage in free speech rights?

A.  I don’t recall any verbiage like that being used in our conversation.

Q.  Okay. That’s twice you used that word. So, you consider balancing the First Amendment aspects in these matters {p.1-63} verbiage?

A.  No, your verbiage. That’s what I meant by that. As part —

Q.  Was there anything that is different from the way I’m saying it, but got to the essence of, did you all discuss in that meeting with your supervisor from Washington —

A.  No, he was —

Q.  — that this area might be too broad, in light of the need to protect and not chill First Amendment rights? Was there any such discussion during that meeting?

A.  No.

Q.  Okay. Just one minute.

Agent Cohen —

A.  Yes.

Q.  — where were tickets checked on October 24th to see if people had their tickets?

A.  I believe they were checked at two different points. The only point that I concerned myself with was prior to the metal detectors. There — I believe the police and a staff volunteer checked them additionally when they were coming by the intersection of Lexington and Airport Boulevard, but they were actually taken right prior to the metal detectors.

Q.  And the metal detectors you are describing there on the chart, the government —

A.  To the right of that, to the right of Doolittle Hanger. {p.1-64}

Q.  To the right of Doolittle Hanger. And then you think there was another spot?

A.  I’m certain of it.

Q.  Where was it?

A.  Somewhere in the vicinity of Airport Boulevard and Lexington, but I don’t know exactly where.

Q.  Well, wouldn’t that be an essential aspect of the security plan to know where the tickets were checked?

A.  No, because that is a staff concern. From a Secret Service standpoint, as long as people get screened to come into a venue, they are, in my opinion, secure.

But the staff invites people to come to venues and it’s their job to control who they invite and who they allow in.

So, as long as they were being checked at some point by staff to insure that they didn’t get people inside that they didn’t want there, then I don’t really concern myself with it. I consider it the general public anyway.

Q.  I’m sorry, you consider what —

A.  I consider the invited people there as general public, because I don’t know them. They are not known to the Secret Service, especially in this scenario, 6,000 people. So, we consider them general public.

Now, the staff is the person who issues tickets, and tickets to people, and they are the ones who take tickets. We {p.1-65} don’t involve ourselves in that.

Q.  So, isn’t it correct that there was publicity for this event and it was advertised as a public event; is that correct?

A.  I don’t know how they advertised it.

Q.  Well, what do you know — don’t you know this event to be a public event where people were invited to come see the president?

A.  It was a ticketed event, which I consider public, because the tickets go out to people that are unknown to me. So, I don’t know how it was advertised or how the tickets were given — given out, other than they were distributed by staff.

Q.  And when you use the word “staff,” who are you talking about, staff?

A.  I mean the president’s staff.

Q.  The what?

A.  The president’s staff. The people that are here from the advance side of the house for the president’s detail, staff people on the president’s side.

Q.  So, when you were describing a few moments ago that the other ticket check area, that you are not sure where it was, but it was people who were the president’s staff doing that ticket checking?

A.  The staff folks come out and do an advance just like we do. And we talk to them about what the president is going to do. They get volunteers to take tickets, to check tickets along the {p.1-66} route, to point people the right direction to go, to point people to parking, so forth. So, it would have been a staff volunteer certainly, volunteering for staff advance people, that would have been concerning themselves with taking those tickets.

Q.  So, the other ticket check spot was not — excuse the sexist connotation — was not manned by police officers or law enforcement officials, but it was staffed by volunteers connected to the president; is that correct?

A.  There were police in the vicinity, but they weren’t taking tickets. Police and Secret Service don’t involve themselves in the collection of tickets for a venue.

Q.  Well, but I’m not talking about whether they took them, I’m talking about whether or not they were being checked or screened —

A.  They were being checked in the vicinity of police officers, but not by the police officers, more likely by staff. The folks — the police were probably asking at that point, “If you are going to the venue, to the park for the event, this way. If you are going to the airport, this way,” you know, pointing them in the correct direction for them to go.

Q.  So, as part of your preparation and planning for this, who was your contact person with presidential staff?

A.  I don’t know, I would have to go back and check. I don’t know. {p.1-67}

Q.  Was it a person out of Washington?

A.  At this site I couldn’t tell you. Sometimes they come from Washington, sometimes they are locally. But you have to — this is 13 months ago and I have done a large number of sites since then. I tend to try to purge the information when I get a new one, you know. I can’t remember who it was.

Q.  Well, I understand you need flexibility, but there’s not a policy on how these things are carried out with regard to something as fundamental as who is screening tickets?

A.  The staff and staff volunteers screen tickets.

Q.  And do you know what kind of training any of these volunteers have?

A.  I don’t.

Q.  They are not — it’s safe to say they are not trained by Secret Service, are they?

A.  We don’t — yeah, we don’t train them.

Q.  All right.

A.  But I would add that if someone came in line and was invited to the event but didn’t have a ticket, the staff would probably facilitate getting that person a ticket, if they were invited, at that point.

Q.  Well, how did one get invited to this?

A.  I don’t know. The staff — I don’t invite people to presidential events, I just secure the event that the president goes to. {p.1-68}

Q.  So, if you came down into that area, let’s say the intersection of Airport and Lexington Boulevard, and you didn’t have a ticket, your understanding from other events is staff would facilitate obtaining a ticket for somebody; is that correct?

A.  If they were invited.

Q.  Well, if the general public at large was invited through telecommunications means, and they were there and knew to come, it’s your testimony that somebody from the White House staff or volunteers would facilitate getting them a ticket, if they came into that area?

A.  Other than the fact that they would want to control the numbers, which is typically why a general event, a general public event would be ticketed, is to control the amount of people.

Obviously Doolittle Hanger, the maximum capacity would be 4 or 5 or 6,000. If 20,000 people showed up, it would be a problem. That’s why I believe they would ticket this type of event, even if it was general public and not invited. But I believe this was for invited people.

Q.  And did you do field notes writing up this event after the fact?

A.  No.

Q.  That’s not standard procedure for Secret Service to write up the event that takes place at each presidential visit in {p.1-69} which you do security?

A.  The site agent, no.

Q.  I’m sorry?

A.  Not the site agent.

Q.  How about an event where someone is arrested?

A.  Not the site agent.

Q.  You don’t, then who does?

A.  The intelligence advance would monitor that case and write up reports on it.

Q.  And who was in charge of intelligence advance in this — for this event, October 24th, 2002?

A.  Agent Rhodes out of intelligence division.

Q.  Now, isn’t it true that part of the post stander policy is to have drawings or diagrams that indicate where each person is to go?

A.  Post stander policy — I’m not aware of a post stander policy like that.

Q.  Well, in the events that you cover and do security for, and are aware of the post stander assignments with numbers and directions, isn’t that accompanied with a map or a diagram?

A.  We typically do a drawing of the actual building itself, which would put the posts on it. But I don’t think there’s a policy in that. There are occasions when we can’t do that and it’s not a violation of policy not to do that. It’s more of a convenience for our post standers to know where they are in the {p.1-70} big picture.

Q.  Well, isn’t it fair to say that given the importance of presidential security, that in order to insure that the verbal printed post stander directions are not misunderstood or fumbled on that day, that there are diagrams that go along to facilitate the agent to know where to go and when to move; isn’t that true?

A.  Most of the time we do do diagrams.

Q.  Was there a diagram for this one?

A.  Yes.

Q.  Do you have that, sir?

A.  Not — not here.

Q.  And it had numbers on it, like if you had a post stander number like 211, would 211 be marked on that diagram?

A.  On the diagram I give the post standers, yes.

Mr. Pitts:  Your Honor, I would like to inquire if Mr. Barton has that diagram.

The Court:  Do you know anything about a diagram, Mr. Barton?

Mr. Barton:  Yes, sir, Your Honor, it was with the — as I understand his testimony, he did a diagram of the Doolittle Hanger —

The Witness:  That’s correct.

Mr. Barton:  — is that correct?

That was part of the materials Your Honor reviewed, I {p.1-71} believe that was part of the materials that the Secret Service requested not be disclosed. It was a drawing of the Doolittle Hanger. I will be happy to show it to you in camera, if you remember —

The Court:  I recall that diagram, yes.

Mr. Barton:  That was not disclosed in discovery. Because it involved only the Doolittle Hanger, as I understand — looking at it, it only involved the Doolittle Hanger, not the area —

The Court:  It was a diagram of just the Doolittle Hanger.

Mr. Barton:  That’s correct. Correct.

The Court:  And there was the concern about the one secure room, correct?

Mr. Barton:  There were a number of concerns.

By Mr. Pitts:

Q.  Well, was there a diagram that related to the perimeter and boundaries of the secure area?

A.  No, just right where I had my agents posted up in and around the close-in area of the Doolittle Hanger.

Q.  And that’s because it’s the area around the Doolittle Hanger that was the secure area?

A.  No.

Q.  Isn’t that true?

A.  No, it’s not, actually. The — we went over with the {p.1-72} police verbally the entire restricted area, and I don’t need to — I didn’t need to draw a map for him when I was standing on the spot saying, “We need a guy here to do this,” and he agrees with me and we discussed what his responsibilities are.

Q.  Well, when you were describing that secure area down Lexington Avenue, what was — how was it demarked?

Verbally tell me what that was. I need to know — I’m a Lexington County Sheriff’s Officer and I need to know where the secure area begins and where it ends, and how do I know going north on Lexington Boulevard?

A.  There should be no — I would say to that officer that there should be no individuals staying here for the duration of our posting to the time of his departure, between this mark and Doolittle Hanger.

Q.  This mark? How does anybody know what “this mark” is?

A.  He’s standing on it. This mark, right here. He gets walked around by his police superior and posted there. And said, “This is your post and these are your instructions,” very similar to the way I did it inside. Doolittle Hanger was —

Q.  So, is it your testimony that starting at 7:30 that morning that some police officer, not Secret Service, but some local and state police officer was walked to some point up Lexington Boulevard and was told to stay there and keep that area secure from that point on? Is that what you are testifying to?

A.  In summary that’s what — yes. Now, whether that same {p.1-73} officer stayed there the whole time, I don’t know.

Q.  I understand.

A.  But somebody — some police officer stayed there the whole time with those same instructions at that same spot.

Q.  And that’s the same police officer that you told me earlier did not have any written criteria standard by which they could determine whether to let somebody go through or tell them to go back?

A.  I wouldn’t think it would be needed to be written when we can just verbally tell them that.

Q.  And what is that that you tell them?

A.  Tell them that if there is someone coming to the event or going to the airport, let them pass through. Or if they — if they conduct business along Airport Boulevard. But if not, then they need to be — this area needs to remain clean, sterile.

And then at some point we are going to shut this down right before arrival, completely, to all individuals, all — with the exception of known authorized individuals.

Q.  And do you know whether or not any such police officers told people to go to the demonstration area?

A.  I don’t know. I don’t know what the police officers told anybody, other than what I told them —

Q.  Was that ever part of your discussions, in your briefings, that if people were planning to protest, they were directed to {p.1-74} a certain designated spot? That was part of the plan, wasn’t it?

A.  I wasn’t told the police officers were to tell anybody to go to a demonstration area. The police — their police superior would have told them that.

When I say walk them out there, I went around with the police superior, their boss, and went around and talked about all the police postings. Then at 7 in the morning, on the day of the event, he would have been posting his police manpower while I was posting my agent manpower.

So, while the instructions are given and talked about and discussed and agreed upon by me and the police, I don’t post every police officer, because I’m busy posting my guys. So, our perimeter comes up — the police perimeter and the agent perimeter all comes up at the same time.

Q.  What time did the president arrive at — to Doolittle Hanger on October 24th?

A.  I believe at 12:05.

Q.  At 12:05?

A.  Yes.

Q.  Now, in all the prior planning that you were involved in, were you advised that Mr. Bursey was planning to attend the event in order to protest?

A.  Someone mentioned it. But that happens often, that somebody — somebody is coming — I actually, I didn’t — the {p.1-75} name — his didn’t register, I just knew there was somebody coming to demonstrate. And I didn’t know if it was going to be at my site or at the Sheraton or at the airport site, I didn’t know — someone would be out there to demonstrate.

Q.  So, did you ask any questions to find out any details about that?

A.  No, because it’s not really a concern of mine at that point. I mean, we are set up so that demonstrators can come and demonstrate in designated areas, designated by the police in this state, or in public areas in other states that don’t have laws about demonstration areas — or cities, I guess it is.

Q.  Who did you meet with from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division?

A.  Which — which police entity? I —

Q.  It’s called SLED, it’s the State Law Enforcement Division. There’s a captain — there’s a Chief Stewart, Captain Thomas —

A.  I didn’t personally meet with anybody from SLED.

Q.  And if a SLED agent had been advised that Mr. Bursey was planning to come and was asking who he needed to contact to engage in a protest, that information was not transmitted to you?

A.  I don’t know what anyone asked a SLED agent. I’m not sure —

Q.  I’m asking did any SLED agent communicate that information {p.1-76} to you?

A.  No.

Q.  Did you —

A.  Not to me. Now, there probably was communication to our intelligence advance, who at our meeting said there is someone who is going to come to one of the venues and demonstrate. Which, it’s pretty inconsequential that someone is coming to demonstrate, it happens all the time.

I have been on the detail, on the president’s detail for four and-a-half years, and I — I can’t remember but — on one hand maybe I can count the amount of times that someone didn’t come to demonstrate against President Clinton or President Bush, the time I have been on the detail.

Q.  Agent Cohen, given the breadth and scope of the secured area, and the time it was going to be restricted, it was not of interest to you where Mr. Bursey wanted to conduct his protest?