Chapter 12
“The despair is there; now it’s up to us to go in and rub raw the sores of discontent, galvanize them for radical social change.”
The day after the election and assassination attempt, the nation was completely polarized. Democratic leaders House Minority Leader Margaret Drummond, U.S. Congresswoman Eileen Burton-Ames, U.S. Senator Alicia Drew, Senate Majority Leader Duane Rafferty and many others saw their opportunity to tee off on the GOP, the Tea Party, white supremacists and the Second Amendment, preferably in the same breath but not necessarily in the same order.
Mayors, local politicians and black leaders in the cities hardest hit by the rioting pleaded with citizens to come together for a vigil for President Johnson’s recovery. The mainstream media broadcast the pleas for calm and promoted the vigils that were to begin less than twenty-four hours after the assassination attempt.
Attorney General Jamail Tibbs announced a news conference for 5:30 p.m. EST. The news outlets were given details on the would-be assassin that were sketchy at best, but the news conference was scheduled to bring the nation up to speed on the investigation.
Meanwhile, Tibbs’ top aide scheduled an internal briefing for noon with only the top members of President Johnson’s cabinet, Vice President Doolittle, the FBI, NSA and the CIA. Several administration officials cringed at the thought of Vice President Doolittle at such a high-level and secure meeting. He was known to have frequent episodes of repeating classified information and making faux pas on sensitive subjects. No member of the Joint Chiefs was invited.
Tibbs and Cliff Radford met privately before the noon meeting.
“What do we know so far?” Radford asked.
“First of all, just so you know, I have ordered the FBI to be in charge of the investigation. The Secret Service, CIA and NSA will need to stand down for now,” said Tibbs.
“That could cause some issues with those other agencies,” Radford said.
“This investigation will stand on my orders and my orders alone. Now is not the time to be timid,” Tibbs responded forcefully. “This is one hell of a scenario and a real opportunity for the president to advance his ideas. We just need to do some damage control and manage the crisis until he can recover enough to provide input and direction. I’m sure he will agree with me on this.”
“Okay, so how do we respond to Congress? They’ll want their own intelligence briefing on the situation.”
“We’ll keep our team updated. Screw the rest for now,” Tibbs said sharply.
Tibbs left the meeting with Radford for another private meeting with Secret Service Agency Chief Matt Breckenridge, who had arrived in Chicago on a military aircraft within hours of the assassination attempt, along with the four Secret Service agents who were at Lincoln Park with the president. The attendance of the agents was no accident. They had proven to be very loyal to President Johnson and his administration. Also, although the Secret Service no longer reported to the Treasury Department, Treasury Secretary Gould was invited to the meeting but was instructed to leave any staff members behind.
To ensure ultimate security, Tibbs scheduled the second meeting to take place aboard Air Force One, which was parked at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.
“I want all personnel removed from the plane before the meeting,” Tibbs ordered one of his aides, “and I want all electronic recording devices disabled.”
“Yes, sir,” the aide said.
When everyone was assembled in the plane’s conference area, Tibbs moved to the head of the table. “Gentlemen, first let me state that this meeting is probably the highest national security event since the planning of D-Day. Under no circumstances will any information discussed here be disseminated in any written or verbal form, innuendo or opinion to anyone outside this room or to your staff. Any violation of this confidence will be considered the highest form of treason and my office will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law. Is that completely and clearly understood?” Tibbs fixed the group with a glare that left no doubt in anyone’s mind that he would do exactly what he promised. A chorus of “Yes, sir” sounded in the room.
“Thank you,” Tibbs said. “Agent Patterson, what do you have so far?”
“Sir, the assassin’s name is Rashid Safly-Allah. He is twenty-six and is from Dallas, Texas. He is the son of Iranian-born parents. His parents emigrated here after the Shah was deposed and received political asylum. Both parents are now deceased,” Patterson told the group.
“Shit! He’s Muslim?” asked Gould.
“Yes.” Agent Patterson continued, “He has no living relatives we can identify, at least in the U.S. He had one sister, but she returned to Iran with her husband almost ten years ago.”
“So are there ties to Al-Qaeda?” asked Tibbs. “The Taliban? Hamas?”
“We secured Safly-Allah’s apartment in Dallas within two hours of the assassination attempt. As of now, the contents of his entire apartment, including furniture, clothes, computer, etc., were loaded into a pod by 0700 hours and are currently secure in a special hangar at Andrews Air Force Base. Special Forces are stationed at the hangar for security.”
“Fine, but what do we know other than these details so far?”
“Well, sir, he was working on his Master’s at SMU in Dallas,” said Patterson, reading from his iPad. “When we researched his emails, it was obvious that he was extremely dismayed and upset regarding Operation Python. His emails to other Muslim students and his entries on blogs are very clear. His sister and her family were killed in the assault on Natanz. We suspect that’s what sent him over the edge. If he has ties to anyone outside the U.S. or any organized domestic terror cells, we have yet to find any during our preliminary investigation.”
“How much does the FBI know at this point?” asked Tibbs.
“We have run the names connected to Safly-Allah through the FBI and CIA as separate actions. We don’t think they’ve figured out the connection, at least not yet. All his contacts are from the Dallas area. If this guy was connected to any terrorist groups, we haven’t found that connection yet,” stated Patterson.
“You’re not giving me a lot,” Tibbs said.
Agent Patterson paused, then looked at Agent Clint Thomas. “Agent Thomas, please share what you have.”
Agent Thomas, a thin, wiry man with a professional demeanor, stepped forward. “Sir, I have a document you will want to review.” He pulled a document from his briefcase, handling it like it contained secret codes to a nuclear arsenal.
“Rashid Safly-Allah was a political science MBA student. He had completed a Master’s thesis.” Agent Thomas handed the document to Tibbs.
Tibbs read the title out loud. “Prejudice in the Tea Party Movement: Is there a Political Plank against Muslims?”
Agent Patterson leaned forward in his chair, drawing the rest of the meeting attendees with him. As he was about to speak, Gould interrupted.
“So, he was writing about how the Tea Party hates Muslims. So what? Why is that important?” Gould asked abruptly.
Agent Thomas took a deep breath. “Well, sir, the title is a little misleading. I read the thesis before you arrived. In the course of his research, Safly-Allah attended more than a dozen Tea Party events and even joined several Tea Party groups. His conclusions in the document end up being pro-Tea Party. He doesn’t find rampant Muslim intolerance or prejudice to Muslims on a large scale in the Tea Party, according to his paper. And even better news is that his thesis has not been turned in to his professor.”
Gould was the first one to have the pieces fall into place. “Holy shit!”
Tibbs, on the other hand, hadn’t quite grasped the totality of the agent’s statement. When it finally did, the puzzlement that contorted his face disappeared.
“Gentlemen, the assassination of President Johnson was attempted by a Tea Party member and sympathizer!” he beamed.
The Secret Service agents smiled broadly, waiting for the expected accolades for the extreme good fortune they’d laid at President Johnson’s feet.
“But he’s still a Muslim.” Tibbs’ frown reappeared. “That’s a problem.”
Agent Thomas said, “Well, he wasn’t a practicing Muslim. He did not attend a local mosque for over three years; apparently he didn’t like the local imam. Also, he was known as “Rash Sally” by his friends. His emails even used that name. That name really doesn’t sound Muslim. Here are some photos.” Agent Thomas handed a stack of photos to Tibbs and the others.
“He doesn’t look Iranian or Arab,” Radford said.
“Many Iranians are light-skinned and are technically considered Caucasians,” added Agent Patterson.
“As unfortunate as the wounding of the president is, I can’t imagine a better gift for him when he heals.” By this time, Tibbs was beyond delighted. He turned to Breckenridge. “I want ANY close associates of this guy completely locked down. That means I want them out of contact with the public until we can control them and the media firestorm. Understood?”
“Okay, done,” Breckenridge said.
Tibbs turned to the Secret Service agents. “You gentlemen have done an outstanding job. The president will be proud to call you his friends and protectors.”
Agent Patterson tilted his head down. “Well, sir, this guy got to him on our watch. We owe him.”
“Agent, one of yours lost his life in defense of the president. Nothing more needs to be said. The results of this investigation are outstanding, and the president will be ecstatic,” Tibbs said.
He turned to the agents. “Gentlemen, you’re dismissed, and remember, nothing said in this room today is to be repeated anywhere. Is that perfectly clear?”
“Yes, sir,” they answered.
Tibbs waited until the agents left the room, closed the door tightly behind them, then sat down again. “And the rest of us are going to sit here and craft a statement for today’s news conference.”
It took a while to pull everything together. When they were all satisfied the statement said what it needed to and nothing else, Tibbs adjourned the meeting.