Posted on 09/25/2001 12:50:32 PM PDT by areafiftyone
The business card and note were waiting for me at our condo in Northern Virginia.
“Please call when you get this message,” the note said. The card was from Special Agent John P. O’Connell, Washington Field Office, NCID.
NCID stands for Naval Criminal Investigations Division, the plainclothes cops of the U.S. Navy.
I called. No answer, but it was late. So I called again the next morning.
“NCID. O’Connell.” The voice was crisp. Businesslike.
“Agent O’Connell, my name is Thompson. You left your card at my house last night.”
“Right sir. Just a minute. Let me get my notes.” He was back in less than a minute.
“Sir, I need to follow up on some things.”
“Really? I figured the statute of limitations had long since expired on anything I did in Uncle Sam’s service.”
He didn’t laugh. This guy was serious.
“This is regarding events of 11 September sir. Do you own a Jeep Wrangler?” He also had the color, year and license plate.
“Yes.”
“Were you in the vicinity of the Washington Navy Yard on 11 September?”
“Yes.”
“May I ask your reason for being there sir?”
“As I recall I was stuck in traffic trying to get on I-295 next to the Southeast gate of the Navy Yard. Is this because I took some pictures of the guards outside the gate?”
“And what was the purpose of those photographs sir?”
“That’s what I do.”
“Sir?”
“I take pictures. I’m a photographer.”
“I see. And were those photograph for a specific purpose?” “Yes, they were for a political news web site I own called Capitol Hill Blue.”
“Excuse me, sir. Did you say Capitol Hill Blue?”
“Yes.”
“And what is the purpose of that web site sir?”
“News.”
“News?”
“Yes, news. You can check it out at http://www.capitolhillblue.com if you wish.”
“Sir, could I have that Internet address again please?”
“That’s http://www.capitolhillblue.com.”
“I see. You say this is a news web site?”
“Yes, news.”
“Sir, is there any other purpose to that web site?”
“Well, it’s been called many things, Agent O’Connell, but I can assure you that subversive has never been one of them.”
“I see, sir. And did you take photographs at any other military installations on 11 September?”
“Yes. The Pentagon.”
“And what was the purpose of those photographs?”
“To publish on my news web site.”
“I see. That would be Capitol Hill Blue?”
“Yes.”
He asked a few more identifying questions: Date of birth. Social Security number.
“Sir, thank you for your cooperation.”
“No problem, Agent O’Connell. By the way, you guys are good.”
“How is that sir?”
“Well, my Jeep is registered at the address of my farm in Southwestern Virginia, not at my condo in the Washington area.”
“Yes sir, we noticed that.”
“So how did you find me?”
“I’m sorry, sir, I’m not at liberty to disclose that information.”
On 11 September 2001, everybody was tense.
And everybody was a suspect.
I don't use hot rollers on my hair during the weekend. Maybe they thought "long straight hair, must be an environmentalist whacko with ice cream bombs"!
It's also what is necessary to make sure the bad guy doesn't get away when there's a shooting in a store (and you block all the exits and check each person before they leave).
Sometimes good police work is just good police work.
Would you have been happier if they hadn't followed up on anyone "observed observing" military installations on the day of the attack? IMO not following up would have been criminally negligent.
The Navy investigator did good.
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