Juno News - “The shooter had help”： Former JTF 2 sniper analyzes failed Trump assassination attempt

00:00:00.000 We are now joined by Dallas Alexander, a former Tier 1 Special Forces sniper in the Canadian

00:00:09.540 military who has protected VIPs, including the Canadian Prime Minister, as a sniper detail.

00:00:16.540 In 2017, Alexander and his four-man sniper team set the world record for the longest

00:00:22.720 confirmed kill in history at over 3.5 kilometers when they took out an ISIS fighter in Iraq.

00:00:30.420 Along with that, Dallas is also a country musician.

00:00:34.480 So there's perhaps no better subject matter expert to walk us through the shocking events

00:00:38.720 that we saw on the weekend at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania than you, Dallas.

00:00:43.400 So thank you so much for joining us on the show.

00:00:45.520 Yeah, thanks for having me.

00:00:47.000 So before we get into it, I want to play a short clip for the audience of your social media post

00:00:52.460 yesterday, breaking down your reaction to the shooting at the Trump rally.

00:00:57.180 Just if you don't know me or are new to this page, I spent just about 17 years in the military,

00:01:04.660 14 of which, just about 14 of which were at a Tier 1 Special Operations unit called JTF-2.

00:01:10.740 Our sniper team has the world record for the longest confirmed sniper kill.

00:01:14.120 And a huge part of our job while I was there, and while I was a sniper, was doing close protection for VIPs

00:01:22.020 up to and including the Prime Minister when he would go to, you know, dangerous countries like Iraq or Afghanistan.

00:01:28.000 We would be in charge of that security.

00:01:31.480 So I'm very familiar with the layout of these types of things and what the jobs should be.

00:01:36.760 And yesterday, what happened, I have no doubts in my mind that the shooter had help from somewhere

00:01:49.880 within an agency, an organization, or the government.

00:01:53.960 The second I saw that aerial photo of what they were saying happened, it immediately made no sense to me.

00:02:04.020 You cannot, in broad daylight, get onto a rooftop within, it looked like, maybe a couple hundred yards.

00:02:13.820 If that, you can't get into that position with a gun when there's a president speaking.

00:02:21.520 It cannot be done.

00:02:22.660 So, Dallas, in that clip, you mentioned that you believe the shooter must have had help from inside,

00:02:29.960 some inside help, before he was able to take the shot.

00:02:33.420 Explain to us why you feel that way.

00:02:38.460 So this exact scenario is essentially, you know, was a big part of my job for a long time.

00:02:45.900 And I got to work at the, kind of the top level of it.

00:02:49.360 So, to me, I immediately, when that aerial, so I was out at a restaurant, I just saw it come up on a TV that that was the aerial picture of the rally site.

00:03:01.260 And they started labeling things.

00:03:03.260 And as soon as they said that the shooter was on a rooftop 130 yards from Donald Trump,

00:03:11.720 my immediate thought and reaction was, then he had help to get there.

00:03:17.540 It's just, it's just, it's the most obvious place.

00:03:25.540 It should have been the number one priority.

00:03:27.680 It's just, it doesn't make any sense.

00:03:31.260 And it would have just took someone sitting.

00:03:33.140 It didn't even have to be a sniper on the roof there.

00:03:35.020 You know, just someone at the base of the building.

00:03:38.100 So random people couldn't climb on a ladder and get a vantage point over top of Donald Trump.

00:03:42.760 None of it makes any sense.

00:03:43.980 I think that the events after the shots fired, there's, you know, there's a lot of talk about confusion.

00:03:51.080 And one of the snipers had someone in their sights and couldn't get permission to shoot and all the chaos.

00:03:57.100 You know, some of that stuff, if you're telling me it's incompetency, I'm like, yeah, I could see that.

00:04:02.400 Like, I've just been, when things get crazy, communications get crazy.

00:04:06.400 But I don't buy incompetence where they just totally forgot to have someone securing that one building or, you know, the route to get to the backside of that building that sloped away so he had a covered approach.

00:04:20.640 None of it makes any sense.

00:04:22.580 So take us through what would be going through your mind and your team's mind if you were in that position.

00:04:29.060 Let's say you were involved in the sniper detail and there's a video, it appears, of a Secret Service sniper.

00:04:36.740 Noticing the shooter before he's able to engage the shooter.

00:04:40.660 What is the process from when somebody sees a threat like that before and what's the process from when they see the threat to when they can execute the threat and take care of that threat?

00:04:53.020 How does that all go down?

00:04:56.580 Yeah, so in like a physical sense of what you're doing, you know, you're on your site and you're making sure you have the right elevation on.

00:05:04.060 You're double checking that, your ballistics, you're making sure the wing call that you made is still the wing call that's holding.

00:05:08.860 You're not feeling like a different wing call.

00:05:11.660 And you're making sure your position's good to go because that is when, you know, all your senses are firing.

00:05:16.960 That's where all the training's for is when you see another sniper stalking into a position to try and get a shooting vantage point.

00:05:23.680 So as soon as you can clearly identify there's a rifle, you take the shot.

00:05:30.520 So like now that is sniping in a context of ROEs and for me that's overseas.

00:05:39.360 So in this particular case, the ROE, like the rules of engagement for Secret Service, I don't know what they are.

00:05:46.240 I've spoken to people who have told me that Secret Service has ROE that says if there's a sniper, you're allowed to shoot him, which makes perfect sense.

00:05:57.180 But I mean, I'm just kind of speculating on the rules of engagement side because I don't know if he was allowed or if he had to wait for permission or if he's just checking in.

00:06:06.700 I don't know any of those details.

00:06:07.940 In your experience, when you've done protective detail for VIPs, how wide of a perimeter do you lock down and what and what does what did the procedures look like in the lead up to securing an area where someone like a prime minister would be speaking?

00:06:26.600 Yeah, so mine were more on the move in different countries when they're visiting because our unit doesn't do protection for the prime minister while he's in Canada.

00:06:40.620 But even on the move, it's thorough.

00:06:42.920 If he's stopping to be in a place like that, the one building where the shooter was would be the first thing we go to.

00:06:49.960 And we would have eyes locked on it, guns on it the whole time if we didn't have somebody on it also.

00:06:56.900 I mean, the water tower that was in that photo would also be an area of concern.

00:06:59.980 But like you just you start close and you go far.

00:07:03.180 And based on resources, he goes far as you can or makes sense, you know.

00:07:10.860 When you're planning something like that, and especially something, you know, in one spot, it's not a big moving thing.

00:07:18.100 It's not touring a city or whatever.

00:07:20.260 You're out there.

00:07:21.600 I don't know what their SOP is again, but it's days before you're making sure like.

00:07:25.800 Because when there's a figure that's that important, you know, you have to make sure that like the buildings aren't rigged to blow up, for instance.

00:07:34.760 Like there's just so many things to think about.

00:07:37.000 Now, that's more of an overseas context also.

00:07:39.060 But there's security sweeps that start and have to happen.

00:07:43.220 And for the most immediate threat to not be taken care of, it doesn't make any sense.

00:07:50.620 And when you look at that aerial photo, as someone who is in was in that business, is there anything else that you think would be catching the eye of snipers on detail?

00:08:03.700 Is there any other structure in that area that you think would be more important for them than the one place where the shooter was?

00:08:09.980 Because as you said, from my own common sense tells me, that location is the only location to be watching for.

00:08:18.400 Yeah, well, it's at least the primary one.

00:08:20.880 You know what I mean?

00:08:21.220 Like I did see a water tower in the back and there's a cliche sniper sniper in the tower.

00:08:26.660 You'd probably want to keep an eye on it.

00:08:27.840 But the primary one is the one that's 130 yards away.

00:08:32.540 Like you can just zero your rifle at that rate.

00:08:34.560 You don't even have to make a complicated shot.

00:08:38.720 It's just so obvious.

00:08:41.160 Children who play Call of Duty would tell you that.

00:08:44.340 Fortnite, they would tell you that.

00:08:45.640 People that paintball would tell you that.

00:08:47.440 And that aerial was covered in tactical professionals.

00:08:51.100 Level of competency, I don't know.

00:08:52.860 But still tactical professionals that have done courses and training and security.

00:08:57.220 It's the most obvious place.

00:08:59.840 And based off of what you know from the shot.

00:09:02.880 So it's about 130, 150 yards if I'm not mistaken.

00:09:08.280 You know, what's the likelihood of a total amateur making that shot with a scope?

00:09:12.700 If he had a scope.

00:09:15.260 Yeah, see, I don't know the optic that the shooter had on his gun.

00:09:18.580 I haven't seen a picture of that yet.

00:09:20.000 So that changes a lot.

00:09:21.820 Right.

00:09:22.860 Now, if you have a scope, you don't need much gun training to make a shot at 130 yards.

00:09:30.580 I mean, you don't really need any.

00:09:32.240 I mean, provided you know how to put the bullets in the gun.

00:09:36.060 It's just, yes, it's not a tough shot to make.

00:09:40.660 But again, I haven't seen what scope is on that gun.

00:09:44.820 Right.

00:09:45.820 And let's just say, you know, if you were involved in a security detail operation overseas, guarding

00:09:54.580 a VIP, and something like this happened, what would then happen to your unit?

00:09:59.960 What would the consequences be for what appears to be a failure of epic proportions here?

00:10:06.020 Oh, yeah.

00:10:08.780 Well, the people would be fired and it would be investigated.

00:10:12.600 I mean, in the unit I used to be in.

00:10:16.980 Right.

00:10:17.240 Under the current Canadian government, I don't know what would happen.

00:10:19.680 But the way it should happen is people should be held accountable.

00:10:24.680 But I actually think more important than that, I think this needs a big investigation.

00:10:29.660 Like, I don't know how all those systems work in the U.S. because I'm Canadian.

00:10:33.280 Right.

00:10:33.540 But I think Donald Trump needs to beef up his security for the next six months.

00:10:39.300 And when he's in, he would deep dive and tear apart everyone that was involved in that

00:10:43.520 because it doesn't add up.

00:10:45.780 I want to switch gears here at Dallas.

00:10:47.860 Some of our audience may know this story.

00:10:50.100 They might have seen your viral episode on The Sean Ryan Show explaining not just the record

00:10:57.420 shot that you made in Iraq, but also your time in the military and your exit from the

00:11:02.160 military.

00:11:03.020 But for those that don't know the story, I just want to have you explain to our audience

00:11:07.820 how exactly it could be that someone your age, at your skill and caliber, could be allowed

00:11:13.180 to leave the military during the pandemic and why they let you leave.

00:11:17.820 It was sort of a push out the door.

00:11:23.640 Yeah.

00:11:25.180 I, to be honest, and I talked about this with Sean, is the unit, because of the government,

00:11:32.380 was starting to change in a way that I didn't like anyway.

00:11:36.280 I always told myself I don't need to do that job as much as I love doing it because the

00:11:42.900 sacrifice is pretty, it's pretty big.

00:11:46.020 You're deployed or gone all the time.

00:11:48.080 So it's just becoming a place that was making me question after, you know, it's 13 years

00:11:54.760 or whatever that I'm like, maybe it's not for me anymore.

00:11:57.540 It's I'm not the right type of person that they're looking for anymore.

00:12:01.060 And when the, you know, the COVID mandates came in for the shots, I went to try and get

00:12:07.080 some medical advice.

00:12:09.280 No one could tell me anything.

00:12:10.880 They just told me it was safe.

00:12:12.320 I said, okay, have you, you know, they, are there anything?

00:12:16.200 Is there information on how it interacts with someone that's had a bunch of concussions?

00:12:19.400 Let's say like I have, or like, you know, whatever health issues, how does it like, oh, we don't

00:12:24.560 know, but it's safe for everyone, for everyone.

00:12:30.700 And again, none of it was, I didn't have some political stance.

00:12:33.920 I'm just like, well, you can't give me any information on this thing, but you're telling

00:12:38.500 me I have to take it.

00:12:40.400 It doesn't, it doesn't add up.

00:12:42.340 I'm not in the demographic, according to everything that's coming out.

00:12:45.260 If it's really harmed by even getting COVID, um, which I had, so it just didn't really

00:12:52.320 make sense.

00:12:53.580 Um, and then, uh, the masking as well, I didn't, I wasn't going to play that game on our camp

00:12:59.860 anyway, because, you know, if you're going into someone's store and it's older people

00:13:04.340 like, can you please put on a mask?

00:13:06.140 Sure.

00:13:07.100 But like at camp, it was just a weird virtue signal.

00:13:11.620 We work at a small special operations camp.

00:13:13.500 Um, we'd be in meetings with no masks.

00:13:15.880 We'd be doing jujitsu, go to the shooting range.

00:13:18.560 And then if one person from the chain of command that liked masking was coming, they wanted

00:13:24.240 us all to put on masks.

00:13:26.200 Um, and I was just like, I am not playing that game at all.

00:13:30.520 So I got kicked out.

00:13:32.500 I got kicked out of the unit and off the camp.

00:13:35.240 Um, it's the last day I'd ever gone there because I wouldn't put a mask on in a meeting.

00:13:39.760 Um, that was it.

00:13:41.800 It's an incredible story.

00:13:43.960 And, and I, I, when I, when I listened to it on the Sean Ryan show, I just was left

00:13:48.760 with the, with the thought that why, why would we do this to the most elite troops in our

00:13:54.620 military when we have an attrition crisis, when we have a recruiting crisis and what appears

00:13:59.980 to be a serious crisis in leadership at the military level right now.

00:14:04.340 I know you're out of the game in terms of the military, but what do you think as someone

00:14:09.300 who has been right to the very top of the special forces system, what do you think the military

00:14:15.620 should do to be stronger at recruiting young Canadians to join the military?

00:14:22.540 Get new leaders.

00:14:23.680 That includes a problem.

00:14:26.840 Yeah.

00:14:26.980 That includes up to the government as well.

00:14:28.180 You think.

00:14:28.980 Right.

00:14:29.680 Absolutely.

00:14:30.340 Has to, has to start there.

00:14:31.960 Right.

00:14:32.780 It's, it's with a poor leader in place.

00:14:37.440 If a poor leader is in play in place or in charge of, um, a really good unit for a small

00:14:44.940 amount of time.

00:14:45.720 You can normally be okay when there's terrible leadership over a long enough period of time,

00:14:52.040 it all trickles down the whole, it just keeps getting passed down the longer and longer you

00:14:57.840 have poor leadership.

00:14:59.080 And that's in military units.

00:15:01.220 That's in sports teams.

00:15:02.720 It's in business.

00:15:04.620 Um, and that's what we're dealing with right now.

00:15:08.240 And what about you?

00:15:10.120 You mentioned that your unit JTF two was going in a direction before you left.

00:15:16.020 But you didn't like, was that B was that do make most, mostly to the pandemic with, was,

00:15:21.700 or was that, was that more so on, uh, you know, unit leadership and, um, inside the military?

00:15:29.940 Uh, I think it was inside the military, but directed from the government of Canada.

00:15:34.800 Um, the job in JTF two is extremely demanding.

00:15:40.760 You have to fight and shoot and do all kinds of training every single day.

00:15:46.720 In different terrain and different vehicles and jumping out of planes and swimming in the water,

00:15:50.700 just everything you can imagine all the time.

00:15:53.960 Uh, and then you deploy for large, long periods of time.

00:15:57.240 And they, the government started implementing a bunch of different.

00:16:01.620 They're just like a course on some type of sensitivity or a course on something else.

00:16:06.620 You have to go on this other computer system and take five hours to do this thing.

00:16:09.740 Um, and to me, none of it was relevant to my job, which is counter-terrorism.

00:16:15.140 So I never did any of them.

00:16:17.220 And that was sort of the start of like, um, you know, I started getting in a little bit

00:16:22.100 of administrative trouble because I'm like, I'm not doing this.

00:16:25.120 I'm going to be at the shooting range, you know?

00:16:28.180 Um, and that was just, it was a, it was a trickle down, you know, all units will do this.

00:16:33.560 And it, uh, that's kind of, it started me, uh, uh, getting that feeling that it wasn't for me.

00:16:42.020 Right.

00:16:42.740 No, of course.

00:16:43.720 And we, we've also seen a series of, of departures at a senior level in the military, whether that

00:16:51.780 be, uh, for allegations that have now or since been dropped, some, not the case, but it seemed

00:16:58.380 as though for at least a few years, top leaders in the military were being taken out of their

00:17:04.380 posts, uh, for, for all number of reasons.

00:17:08.220 And that to me signaled that there was a serious crisis of leadership at that top brass level.

00:17:15.920 You, you were in the military when some of the, when some of those began, I believe, what

00:17:20.460 was the atmosphere like when people started to be taken out of their jobs and, and those

00:17:25.180 that, that apparently were very well respected inside the military when they were pushed aside

00:17:29.280 for others?

00:17:32.020 Um, I think it's not surprising.

00:17:34.840 It started at the government level.

00:17:37.040 And if, if the government didn't like what, uh, that person was or stood for, or sadly the

00:17:45.420 way they looked, um, then they were looking to replace them versus the, uh,

00:17:50.460 person that fit what they were looking for.

00:17:54.360 For sure.

00:17:55.260 I want to go back to just some of the security questions regarding, uh, what, what, what it

00:18:00.900 might look like for a prime minister now to go overseas in, in a, in the wake of something

00:18:07.140 like this, when a prime minister now goes overseas, is there going to be any change in security or,

00:18:13.660 or are things usually so high or is the security level so high already that there won't be much

00:18:19.020 of a change going forward?

00:18:20.220 Do you anticipate there to be some big changes going forward in, in Canadian politics?

00:18:24.860 I don't, I don't think so.

00:18:27.360 I think like, this is so clearly a terrible example of security.

00:18:31.960 Like no one uses the model that was used the other day.

00:18:35.480 Like don't, don't cover the most threatening building and let a sniper walk up a ladder

00:18:41.120 and go on it.

00:18:41.660 Like that's, it's not even such a terrible plan.

00:18:46.040 Um, so no, I don't think too much is going to change.

00:18:48.940 Like we have close protection, pretty dialed in.

00:18:51.660 Um, and it works well.

00:18:54.200 When you did the interview with, uh, Sean Ryan, you also released, I believe it was the first

00:19:00.420 time that that footage of your, your famous shot was released and the media fallout in

00:19:05.480 Canada was quite something.

00:19:07.380 Obviously the legacy media began, uh, parroting a lot of what the federal government was, was

00:19:13.380 writing about it because quite a bit of a stir there.

00:19:16.780 Did you anticipate that the government would respond the way they did when that footage of

00:19:21.460 the, of the famous shot was released?

00:19:25.040 Well, the funny part is that wasn't footage of the shot.

00:19:28.000 So whoever was complaining from the military, I guess, didn't watch the video, which the

00:19:34.580 military has a copy of.

00:19:36.900 So I just kind of giggled because all of these news articles are coming out about it.

00:19:41.140 And I'm like, that's not the video of the shot.

00:19:44.080 So, uh, I don't know the response I sort of expected, cause I was talking about the COVID

00:19:49.740 stuff, uh, I met with a ton of operators from our unit before I went on Sean Ryan's podcast

00:19:56.340 to talk through operational security, what I was going to talk about.

00:20:01.260 And just the one warning was from a higher up officer.

00:20:04.300 He's like, yeah, it's all good.

00:20:05.820 He's like, if you tell the COVID story, there's probably going to be backlash.

00:20:09.940 I said, that's okay.

00:20:11.800 And, and that was, and that was what we had.

00:20:13.900 That's what I, at least how I interpreted that whole series of events that really, they

00:20:18.000 were, they were more upset about what was going on behind the scenes, what was being

00:20:22.000 said behind, uh, to the public about how the military responded about, you know, during

00:20:27.740 COVID.

00:20:28.120 And, uh, it seems like it, it really caused a stir because clearly that, that, that was

00:20:34.220 a major issue for a lot of, a lot of members, not just yourself.

00:20:37.800 How many, how many members were let go because of the mandates?

00:20:44.600 Oh, I don't know the numbers.

00:20:46.040 I just know that guys found their way out of the military and some of them very quickly,

00:20:52.280 including myself when all this was happening.

00:20:55.680 Um, it was like the whole response to it.

00:21:01.040 When I went on the Sean Ryan show, it's just, it was absurd.

00:21:05.180 They were like grasping at anything they could think.

00:21:08.800 Like I, I actually even asked them a whole bunch of times before I left the unit.

00:21:13.420 I said, is there someone, and I didn't exactly leave on good terms, but I'm like, is there

00:21:18.240 someone I could talk to?

00:21:19.260 And I was saying this over and over months and months to me getting out someone that I

00:21:23.520 can talk to, a public affairs officer, someone, cause I'm going to go on podcasts.

00:21:27.460 I'm going to be a musician.

00:21:28.360 It's like a public space.

00:21:29.780 I'm going to tell any story of my life that I want.

00:21:32.680 Um, I will protect operational security for the people that still work overseas.

00:21:36.420 And like the secrets that we have with other countries, I'm obviously not telling that,

00:21:39.700 but I'm like, is there someone I can talk to where I say, look, I'm going to post this

00:21:43.760 today.

00:21:44.820 Would you like something written a little differently?

00:21:47.480 Do you have a concern for this?

00:21:48.540 Is this good for your branding?

00:21:50.200 And it was just, uh, it was ignored over and over and over and over.

00:21:55.020 And then I came out and all they did is complain and harass me, do investigations and all this 0.98

00:22:00.840 shit.

00:22:01.700 Before I let you go, Dallas, I want to give you the chance to talk about your music career, 0.99

00:22:07.100 where Canadians can listen to your music.

00:22:09.040 And if you have any shows coming up in Canada that, uh, Canadians can go watch.

00:22:13.520 Yeah, I've got, uh, my website, dallasalexander.ca.

00:22:19.280 I've got vinyl and CD albums available for sale.

00:22:23.580 And, uh, I'm putting all those songs out onto Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, all of the

00:22:29.620 platforms.

00:22:30.480 Uh, I think there's four of the eight are out right now or five of the eight.

00:22:34.740 Um, and I just keep releasing music.

00:22:37.020 So if you look up Dallas Alexander, I'm just always putting out music.

00:22:41.680 Shows.

00:22:42.160 We've got some shows coming up playing in London, Ontario on the 20th of this month, July.

00:22:46.540 And then, uh, out in Alberta for big Valley Jamboree, a songwriter thing.

00:22:51.580 We're going to do a run of shows with an artist named Brian Martin, kind of opening a bunch

00:22:55.520 of places from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario.

00:22:59.920 You know, what made you want to, uh, what made you want to get into music?

00:23:05.380 Oh, I've always loved music.

00:23:07.560 Uh, I actually started using songwriting, more as therapy.

00:23:12.260 Um, and it, it was, it was just such a, it was helping so much.

00:23:19.000 Um, and as I started learning to play guitar a little bit more, I was like, just changed

00:23:24.240 my focus.

00:23:24.700 I'm like, this is what I'm doing next.

00:23:25.900 And all of the, the crazy focus I had at the unit for shooting and fighting and all

00:23:31.660 the different things that just switched to like guitar playing and singing and songwriting.

00:23:36.220 Well, I appreciate you speaking to us, telling us some of your story and some of what happened

00:23:40.580 and also getting into the details of the, the shooting at the Trump rally, because I

00:23:46.440 think unlike many people who have been talking about it and speculating on what really went

00:23:51.040 on, you have more experience in, uh, in that line of work.

00:23:54.280 So Dallas Alexander, I really appreciate you joining us in the Faulkner show today.

00:23:59.760 Thanks a lot for having me.

00:24:01.000 Appreciate it.

00:24:01.720 Thank you.

Juno News - July 16, 2024

“The shooter had help”： Former JTF 2 sniper analyzes failed Trump assassination attempt

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript