00:00I'm a former U.S. Secret Service officer, joining me from Washington, D.C.
00:03Appreciate your time this morning, Barry.
00:05You've been closer to these matters than I ever have,
00:07and you've been a braver man than I ever will be.
00:09How do you call it? Morning.
00:11Good morning. Thank you so much for having me.
00:13Obviously a horrible situation that has been introduced
00:16to an already politically charged situation over there.
00:22Look, bottom line, removing the politics from this whole thing,
00:26if any of your viewers, including yourself or me,
00:30is confronted with a police officer with his gun drawn,
00:34pointing it at me, and I'm in my car,
00:36I'm not gonna drive towards that officer.
00:39That's just the bottom line.
00:41I don't think you're gonna do it.
00:43I called my mother.
00:44She's not gonna do it.
00:45She said she wouldn't do it either.
00:47So if we slow down this video and we watch it,
00:50and believe me, it took me about 20 times of watching this video
00:53to see really what happened and slowing it down, okay?
00:57Anyway, she tried to ram a police officer.
01:01At the end of the day, none of your viewers would do that.
01:04I wouldn't do it.
01:05You wouldn't do it.
01:06So remove the politics, see what the physical evidence is,
01:10and that's unfortunately what happened.
01:12Now, that's not what any of us wanted to happen.
01:15Certainly not that officer.
01:16He didn't wake up that day and say,
01:18hey, you know, I want to shoot some woman today.
01:20I highly doubt that's what he wanted,
01:22but look at the situation.
01:24You have to also put the blame where it belongs.
01:28What was she doing there?
01:30Here's the thing, Barry,
01:31and I appreciate you worked at the very pinnacle.
01:33You looked after former presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama.
01:36So, you know, you've been there.
01:37You've been in the trenches, as it were.
01:39But are you honestly telling me, Barry,
01:41you think that officer's life was at risk?
01:44Absolutely, because they're not shooting at her
01:47when she's going in reverse.
01:48I just tell your audience, slow it down.
01:52Watch the video many times.
01:53It's going to take a lot of times to watch it.
01:56She's going in reverse.
01:57Why aren't those officers shooting her then?
02:00Because she's not trying to run somebody over at that point.
02:03She initially goes in reverse
02:05and then takes the time to switch into drive,
02:08go forward with a police officer in front of her car.
02:13I hear you, Barry, but she could be spooked, of course, sir.
02:17She could be just acting utterly irrationally
02:20because she's spooked, right?
02:21She may very well be, but that relies on only one person.
02:27And whose fault would that be?
02:28Her.
02:29She placed herself in that situation,
02:31and she's the one that moves the steering column to go into drive,
02:36and she's the one that pressed the gas, not the police officer.
02:40And if we set the standard of, hey, you know what?
02:43It's OK on certain times to ram a police officer, but not this time.
02:48OK.
02:48You know, it just doesn't make sense.
02:50So if we follow the law, nobody's going to ram a police officer,
02:54especially when it has his gun out, pointing at you,
02:58and he's telling you to stop or don't move.
03:01I hear you.
03:02Lastly, a quick word, and I'd be grateful if you didn't use any of the language,
03:05the reaction from the local mayor.
03:07How do you react to his reaction and his view
03:11of what's happening within Minneapolis and the ICE agents?
03:14I say he's an excellent politician and a craftsman,
03:17but he has no clue what he's talking about.
03:20I don't see any credentials as far as he's gone to any police academy.
03:24I don't think he's ever worn a badge and a gun
03:27or placed in a situation whatsoever in his entire life like that.
03:31Look at his history.
03:32He's been anti-police for a very, very long time.
03:36He's never supported the police.
03:38So this is, you know, somebody that is trying to spin a political agenda,
03:43but when you get down to the nitty-gritty of what the law is
03:46and if you place yourself in the position,
03:50if your viewers, your listeners,
03:52place themselves in the position of that police officer
03:55and you have somebody trying to ram you and kill you,
03:59it's not just hit you with a car.
04:01It is kill, murder, a police officer.
04:05Grateful for your time, Barry.
04:06I will leave it there.
04:07Look after yourself.
04:08Barry Donadio, former U.S. Secret Service officer, joining us.
