Chapter 44
“A revolution is an idea which has found its bayonets.”
Agent Barnes heard the broadcast and, not willing to make a career-ending decision on his own, called FBI Director Henry Wodehouse in D.C. Barnes had a very hard time reaching his director, as he and many other directors were sequestered with the president in the situation room at the White House.
There were multiple 42-inch LCD television screens throughout the situation room. Each one had a different channel on, broadcasting the live telecast from the Texas state capitol building. The entire room sat quiet as Gov. Cooper and others spilled the news to the rest of the country. The president was the first to speak when the press conference was over.
“Gentlemen, we have to attack this head on. We need to bring Smith and Gould in here now!” he said firmly as he motioned to Cliff Radford to summon them to the White House immediately.
Tibbs sat in his leather chair with his head in his hands, looking up every now and then when someone made a suggestion, hoping the suggestion would make this story go away.
“When Smith gets here, we will get our talking points together and get them distributed throughout the administration,” the president said. “In the meantime, let’s turn up some of the news coverage so we can see how much damage control is going to be necessary.”
Finally, Barnes got through to Wodehouse, who put him on hold to ask Tibbs and the others what the agents on the ground in Austin should do. They all looked at each other for a few brief seconds before the president spoke. “Tell them to get the hell out of there. We need to regroup to find out what our next move will be. I don’t want any press releases, interviews or comments made by anyone on the staff or anyone on the ground in Austin. Tell them I am issuing a gag order on the whole event. Is that understood?”
“Yes, Mr. President,” replied Wodehouse.
He was on the phone for a few more minutes before he put his hand over the mic of the phone, cleared his throat and asked, “Sir, the agents and troops want to know how they will get a ride out of there. Their transportation… the Blackhawks were destroyed.”
“Son of a bitch! You guys fail the operation then you want me to figure out how to get your guys out? Tell them to take taxis, for all I care,” the president yelled. “If they would have gotten the governor out when they were ordered to, that press conference would never have happened.”
Tibbs nervously stood up and offered, “Mr. President, they got this news from this Spilner guy. Chances are that the governor isn’t the only one with this information. If it hadn’t come out now, it was going to.”
“Yes, and how the hell does a DOJ employee just walk out with highly classified information? Who is going to brief me on exactly what he got? Does he have director or above level memos or emails?” a visibly irritated president asked, glaring directly at Adamson.
“Sir, we know he copied Sally files and Sally emails, but there were no internal or inter-departmental communications on those particular servers, so we are confident that’s all he has.”
“Confident? You’re confident?” asked the president sarcastically.
After several conversations with Wodehouse, Agent Barnes radioed Agent Hixson.
“This is Barnes. We are being ordered to stand down. However, the crowds and that militia in the blocks around us are getting agitated and may provoke further clashes. I also have some gung-ho guys who lost some friends. We need to defuse this as soon as possible.”
“Well, let me consult with the governor. I’ll get right back to you.”
A few minutes later, the lieutenant governor came on Barnes’ radio, “This is Lt. Gov. Gene Foster. Agent Hixson passed the radio to me.”
“Hello, sir, this is beginning to escalate out here. Your folks are yelling at mine and there is still a tremendous amount of friction going on. You guys took out our ride,” said Barnes, referring to the destroyed Blackhawks.
“Agent, the governor is sending four school buses to the east side of the capitol building as we speak. You and your crew are to board those school buses. We will arrange for the wounded and dead to be transported as well.”
“Sir, where are the school buses going?”
“We will allow your folks to bring in one C-130 aircraft to transport all of you, but you will have to leave Texas. That plane is not going to be allowed to land anywhere in the state except Austin Bergstrom International Airport. We are also loading school buses at DPS headquarters building with those who were arrested there and they will meet you at the airport. Agent Hixson is arranging the C-130 with Washington as we speak.
“You are to instruct your unit that all weapons are to be left in a pile. If they do not follow these instructions, your men will be arrested. Also, before boarding the plane, each of them will be required to swear never to enter Texas again, and that they will never take up arms against Texas or Texans again, ever.”
Barnes was silent for a few minutes. Then he blurted, “Are you fucking serious? We aren’t surrendering. We are simply being called back by Washington and have been instructed to stand down.”
“Agent Barnes, you and your men will either accept these terms or you will be arrested. This isn’t a negotiation and our terms are not up for discussion. Your entire premise for being here is a lie. The sooner you accept that this administration is corrupt and is responsible for the deaths of your agents, the sooner you can get out of here.”
“There is no way in hell all of my men are going to accept those terms,” Barnes said flatly. “In fact, there’s probably a few of them that are from Texas originally.”
“Agent, it would be hard for us to believe any Texan would assault the capitol or support the unconstitutional actions your department has waged against the average Texan, but those terms apply to all of your men, period.”
In the time since the governor’s news conference, the number of Texas Guards had more than doubled to nearly one thousand troops surrounding the feds, who had pulled back to the northeast corner of the capitol grounds. The feds worked through the night with emergency medical personnel who were allowed in to stabilize those who needed emergency medical care and transport them to area hospitals. The state wanted the feds to take with them the injured that had been treated at hospitals and were not critically wounded.
By 3:00 a.m., the feds were loaded on the school buses but were awaiting the arrival of the C-130 transport plane to land at Austin Bergstrom International. The C-130 had to be brought in from an Oklahoma air base because all U.S. Air Force bases and their respective flight operations had been locked down or disabled by Texas Air National Guard and the Texas Guard.
A very long day and an equally long night were almost over for all involved in Austin. At daybreak, DPS vehicles and Texas Guard Humvees arrived to escort the school buses to the airport. The school buses at DPS headquarters were already rolling with a huge escort of state law enforcement vehicles and Humvees.
As the school buses meandered through downtown with sirens and lights, an outpouring of people came to the street curbs to see the spectacle. The worldwide news coverage had gone uninterrupted through the night. It was likely everyone in America knew about the scene that had unfolded in Texas the day before.
Along the route to the airport, Texans turned out by the thousands at 6:30 a.m. Families waving Lone Star flags and homemade signs were everywhere. Some waved the famous yellow Gadsden Flag. Many yelled profanities at the buses and a few even threw rocks.
All the media was covering the ‘retreat’ of the feds, who arrived in Blackhawks but were leaving in yellow school buses. Many news feeds showed recurring images of the piles of weapons on the capitol lawn that the feds and U.S. Army Rangers were forced to give up. The Texas militia was celebrating near the capitol.
At the situation room in the White House, the mood was both somber and angry. Smith and Gould stayed with the directors and president through most of the night, watching news coverage and getting updates from Barnes on the scene.
Gould was furious when he learned about the state of Texas requiring the agents and Special Forces to swear an oath promising non-aggression and no re-entry into Texas.
“Who the hell do they think they are?” Gould swore. “This is a good example why nobody in the country likes those dumb-asses. They are so damn full of themselves!”
Smith was worried. “Mr. President, we need to do some quick polling to see how the country is reacting to this to make sure our talking points are in line with public sentiment. That means you may not be able to make a statement for a few hours. We may want to put out a couple of benign sentences, but we really need to know where we stand with the rest of the country on this issue. I think they will be behind us, sir, except for the rednecks south of the Mason-Dixon Line, as usual.”