Officers Involved In Von Brunn Shooting Were Union Members Who Had Pressed For Security Vests
Officers Involved In Von Brunn Shooting Were Union Members Who Had Pressed For Security Vests
This morning on NBC’s Today Show, Sara Bloomfield, director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, commended the security police professionals who were able to so quickly take down shooter James von Brunn and save the lives of other visitors and staff members at the institution:
BLOOMFIELD: Well, we obviously take security very very seriously. It’s our highest priority — the safety of our visitors and our staff. … But everything happened yesterday as we train for these things. And as I think you’ve reported, two of our officers did attack this assailant and none of our visitors were hurt, so we feel that this actually worked extremely well, in terms of how many lives were saved in this incident. And again, we want to commend our officers who responded so well and pay tribute to Officer Johns, who also behaved so heroically in this incident.
Watch it:
The security police professionals working at the Holocaust Museum are all members of the International Union, Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America (SPFPA). Yesterday, president David Hickey said that it was a tragic day for his members, who are “the first line of defense against a terrorist attack and put their lives on the line each day protecting our country.”
ThinkProgress spoke to SPFPA Organizing Director Steve Maritas, who said that the officers working at the museum worked for Wackenhut Services, Inc. He stressed that because of the intense security environment in Washington, DC, these men and women go through extensive training:
These guys are security police professionals, which is a whole different level of training compared to security guards. … We represent approximately 5,000 officers around the area, including the Pentagon and the Ronald Reagan Building. It’s a tragedy, what happened. [...]
Because of the high-profile buildings that they represent, they would continuously provide training to these officers. … When they train these guys, they’re trained on more of a terrorism level.
However, according to SPFPA Washington DC representative Assane Faye, the union had been pressing Wackenhut for “company-issued protective vests,” as a result of a rise in anti-Semitic remarks directed at the museum’s officers. “I hammered this in our negotiations two years ago because of how sensitive that museum is,” Faye told the Washington Post. Wackenhut has not yet issued the vests.
SPFPA has been a strong supporter of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would “enable working people to bargain for better benefits, wages and working conditions.” Maritas told ThinkProgress that conservative cries over the disappearance of the secret ballot are misplaced, because right now, there is no such thing as a “secret ballot.” He said that as any “good union-buster will tell you,” they already know how employees will vote on unionization because they “do one-on-one sessions with these guys” and spread misinformation.
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Cost control and profit margins rule in corporate monstrosities. What was Wackenuts’ specific reply to the vest request? We won’t hear it, now. They’re hiding behind an Axelrod like image firm at the moment.
June 11th, 2009 at 11:23 amThose pesky union demands are such a drain on the bottom line.
June 11th, 2009 at 11:26 am… officers working at the museum worked for Wackenhut Services, Inc….
– - That is, onomatopoeically, one seriously ironic company name.
June 11th, 2009 at 11:27 amExit Stage Left says:
No more than minimum rage.
June 11th, 2009 at 11:28 amI trust you were just being snarky, as I.
WTF! This is disgusting! They KNEW the threats were increasing and these guys don’t have vests?! What, so someone in management can save some money?! What the Hell is wring with people!
June 11th, 2009 at 11:29 amBetcha ya they think about supplying their employees with vests when Officer Johns’ family sues their asses.
June 11th, 2009 at 11:29 amHow noble of them to close the Museum! If the man had a vest, he could have survived. So, this man risked his life and saved an untold amount of people and they didn’t even require their guards to wear veasts. I’m stunned.
June 11th, 2009 at 11:32 amIt’s just a rumor, but I understand that the right-wing nut job Von Brunn was actually under consideration for a prime-time spot on Fix news. The spot was ultimately given to Billo the Clown.
Didn’t really happen, but his “hate” sure blends in well with their line-up.
June 11th, 2009 at 11:36 amIt’s so sad to think that this brave young man, a true hero, might be alive today if it was not for the need of their employer to save money and maximize profits.
June 11th, 2009 at 11:50 amI’m curious… where did the billions allocated by DHS to all sorts of entities wind up? The monuments and museums on and around the National Mall were and are designated as targets, so how did the security agents employed by the private companies hired to protect them end up with a gun but no personal body armour?
Reminds me of the flack jackets that our troops in Iraq had to get sent from their families at home. Bet Blackwater employees had adequate body armour, provided by the private Blackwater with the costs passed through on a cost plus basis to We the People.
PEACE
June 11th, 2009 at 11:52 amSo deranged old creeps have a right to bear (and use) arms, but security police officers haven’t a right to have a security vests? Nice priorities there.
June 11th, 2009 at 11:52 amP.D. Says:
How noble of them to close the Museum! If the man had a vest, he could have survived. So, this man risked his life and saved an untold amount of people and they didn’t even require their guards to wear veasts. I’m stunned.
And this is the museum’s fault how? The fault lies with the employer who felt it’s bottom line was more important than the lives of it’s employees.
June 11th, 2009 at 11:53 amDr. Hussein Matt Says:
UPDATED! Liberal Hunting License sticker
And those sickos consider themselves to be patriots. It’s a pretty sad and sick world we live in today.
June 11th, 2009 at 11:54 amSeems as if they put profits before vests
OT
Ah, see they really really do care about you leading a healthy life.
June 11th, 2009 at 11:56 amPerhaps the Dept. Of Homeland SEcurity would like to know about these people?
Publius Press Inc
PO Box 507
Chattanooga, TN
37402
US
Phone: +1 423 822 6850
June 11th, 2009 at 11:58 amNice one, AB.
June 11th, 2009 at 12:00 pmWackenhut has not yet issued the vests.
Is Donald Rumsfeld running this company?
June 11th, 2009 at 12:02 pmI was unaware of the fact we were all deer.
Then again, given how many SUVs, pick-up trucks and Hummers the deer have wrecked up in my neck of the woods over the years, maybe it’s the conservatives getting the raw end of this hunting deal.
June 11th, 2009 at 12:05 pmI completely agree. The Holocaust Museum has always been a target for this kind of violence, a fact made painfully obvious now, and the security staff had every reason to demand more protection. If Wackenhut had listened to the demands of the SPFPA, we might have had a critically injured security officer instead of a dead one.
Having said that, is now really the time to bring this up? The day after a tragedy like this, you’re making a point about EFCA? We would decry this sort of tragic opportunism if the right did it. A man is dead, the Jewish community is under attack, and you’re trying to score a point about EFCA?! Now I support EFCA 100%, but seriously, can the country take at least a whole day to heal before this becomes a political opportunity? There are so many other things to talk about, so many greater issues that we need to come to terms with. I can’t believe I’m seeing this kind of insensitivity on Think Progress. Again, I agree with your point, but it would have been just as valid tomorrow.
June 11th, 2009 at 12:06 pmAre you talking about the Holocaust Museum or the Iraq War?
June 11th, 2009 at 12:07 pmAll kidding aside, however, it is very, very unfortunate that these men didn’t have vests, and also that this is being made a political issue by the union. Yes, it is terrible that the guards did not have vests. But don’t blame the victim, the museum. Blame the company who saw money over security as the bottom line!
June 11th, 2009 at 12:10 pmAndrosko Says:
I can’t believe I’m seeing this kind of insensitivity on Think Progress. Again, I agree with your point, but it would have been just as valid tomorrow.
June 11th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
The point is just valid today as it would be tomorrow. I bet these security guards get their vests now…
June 11th, 2009 at 12:13 pmNow that the horse has bolted, we’ll bar the door straight away.
June 11th, 2009 at 12:13 pmI dont understand the mentality behind the ‘If you dont hate everyone and everything we do, then your one of them’
Right in line with ‘Your either with us or against us’ rational
We said that kind of stuff in elementary school.
Truth is, these people DO NOT get to decide who is for or against anything.
So take your hate imagination you pin on others and put it back where it belongs — inside your hollow skull.
June 11th, 2009 at 12:15 pmIs it really being made a political issue for the sake of politics or is it a useful example for why the union pressed for vests and why vests were needed in the first place…to avoid such an unnecessary death?…
June 11th, 2009 at 12:21 pmThe fact that these people are heavily trained for response to terrorist type tactics says the company (I’m sorry I can’t type the name without laughing) recognized the possibility of such actions taking place.
Bringing up the ‘oversight’ about vests needs to be made, today, when the iron is hot. There are another 4,999 officers out there, at risk.
June 11th, 2009 at 12:23 pmAndrosko Says:
but seriously, can the country take at least a whole day to heal before this becomes a political opportunity?
June 11th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
____________
It was a political opportunity the moment after the shots were fired. It’s callous and insensitive, but it’s reality.
June 11th, 2009 at 12:26 pmIt could go either way, really, though experience in my state tends to lead me to conclude that it’s more the former.
June 11th, 2009 at 12:26 pmI gather that Wackenhut was sold to a Danish company back in 2000, one of, if not the worlds largest private security firms…I myself doubt they would be for EFCA but they should have no problem with supplying vests.
June 11th, 2009 at 12:29 pmWackenhut has highly trained (not ordinary) security guards at extremely vulnerable high profile locations (targets) and won’t issue vests?
I think the shooter isn’t the only one culpable.
June 11th, 2009 at 12:45 pmAmericasBack Says:
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000
Everybody knows the dictionary industry is infested with liberal bias.
/snark
.
Androsko Says:
Having said that, is now really the time to bring this up? The day after a tragedy like this, you’re making a point about EFCA?
I really see it as a defensive measure; the cons are going to attack unions again any day now, as they always do. This is a good thing for people to have in their back pockets to pull out when they do that.
.
Papirini Says:
But don’t blame the victim, the museum. Blame the company who saw money over security as the bottom line!
A lot of the problem with the way the economy works in the modern age, what with everybody outsourcing functions to each other, is that it’s much harder to figure out who to hold accountable when something goes wrong. More and more companies are calling their employees “self-employed consultants.” More others are making a temp agency or some other outsource firm the employer of record for employees who are on-site and under the direct supervision of the “client” firm. All this serves to do is pass the buck so that employees don’t get the pay, benefits and working conditions they deserve. At some point we have to pin down the responsibility on the people on someone.
I really don’t think anyone’s to blame for this though (other than the shooter). Not having vests merely highlights a missed opportunity, and shines a spotlight on the larger issue.
June 11th, 2009 at 1:01 pmWhen they bring up the issue of vests they need to make sure they get ones that are at least rated III/IV. The IIIA rated ones that most officers in this country use are for small arms such as handgun protection.
June 11th, 2009 at 1:19 pmThe problem now a days are the more powerful rifles, they eat up body armor like pack man eats up dots. Especially since the weapon used was a rifle. I hope that for cost sake they don’t just get the cheap IIIA’s.
spanky1984 Says:
The problem now a days are the more powerful rifles, they eat up body armor like pack man eats up dots. Especially since the weapon used was a rifle.
And wingnut psychos know their calibers quite well, as well as the relative merits of different types of body armor. This is not something they’re illiterate about.
June 11th, 2009 at 1:39 pmKevlar vests are > $500. Whoever denied them protection should rot in Hell.
June 11th, 2009 at 1:50 pmwait… so this horrible shooting is now being tied to the Employee Free Choice act? But the guy killed was in a union? Come on… one has nothing to do with another.
The fact that a union didn’t get the men vests say more about unions being unable to be effective than it does about peoples choice to form a union.
June 11th, 2009 at 1:59 pmsorry to respond to my own post but now I’m hot. The reason this liberal doesn’t like unions are reasons just like this. “We asked for vests and didn’t get them.” Great job, Mr. Union Rep. Thanks for standing up for your guys. Now Think P says we should have make it easier for weak, monday-morning quarterback reacting unions to form. Please.
This poor guy was shot with a rifle… by a right-wing whack job. Lets talk about this hatred instead.
June 11th, 2009 at 2:10 pmIf you see this on a car, take a moment to call it in to the local police, sheriff, FBI and Homeland Security.
June 11th, 2009 at 2:15 pmsorry to respond to my own post but now I’m hot. The reason this liberal doesn’t like unions are reasons just like this. “We asked for vests and didn’t get them.” Great job, Mr. Union Rep. Thanks for standing up for your guys. Now Think P says we should have make it easier for weak, monday-morning quarterback reacting unions to form. Please.
SORRY to respond with snark. but I guess we shouldn’t have unions and just rely on the kindness and generosity of management…that works!~ I think it has more to do with Wackenhut’s willingness to shirk any potential costs even at the expense of the safety of its workers…
June 11th, 2009 at 2:57 pmwith all due respect, that is a common line used against unions…of course with the playing field tilted so heavily towards management, we need EFCA more than ever.
June 11th, 2009 at 2:58 pmWhy couldn’t we place a federal tax on ammunition that directly pays for protective equipment for our national security and police professionals?
June 11th, 2009 at 2:59 pmten10x Says:
Why couldn’t we place a federal tax on ammunition that directly pays for protective equipment for our national security and police professionals?
because the wingnuts would go bonkers and the Dems would NEVER have the guts to propose such a move…Remember, the gun lobby is like God in D.C.
June 11th, 2009 at 3:00 pmYou union people are all the same. Don’t you know those vests cost money? Sheesh. (The preceding was a message from The National Sarcasm Society.)
June 11th, 2009 at 3:17 pmfelixxx999 Says:
The fact that a union didn’t get the men vests say more about unions being unable to be effective than it does about peoples choice to form a union.
Oh, screw that. Things are tilted incredibly against unions since Reagan, and it’s not their fault. Should they have been on strike when the shooter showed up? Is that what you’re suggesting?
.
felixxx999 Says:
This poor guy was shot with a rifle… by a right-wing whack job. Lets talk about this hatred instead.
That has been discussed, and is being discussed, at lenth in other threads. If that’s the discussion you want to have, go to one of them. Complaining about the subject of this thread is just stupid and frankly, trollish of you.
June 11th, 2009 at 3:57 pmIn contract security the client (Museum) decides whether the guards wear protective vests. The security company(Wackenhut) supplies vests only if the client (Museum) asks or requires a bullet proof vest. If the guard provides his own vest, he would not be allowed to wear it, he would be sent home or fired. The clients do not want to alarm the public. They feel it would scare people away.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:55 pmNow that somebody’s dead, maybe the fokkers will sp;ring for vests.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:56 pmjeffrey678 Says:
June 11th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
How do you know how the contract between the museum and Wackenhut is set up?
June 11th, 2009 at 5:17 pmjust found this as i opened up:
Slain officer remembered as a ‘gentle giant’
CNN – ?58 minutes ago?
By Doug Gross (CNN) — After stints as a guard in the jails of Washington, DC, and on the streets of post-Katrina New Orleans, Stephen Tyrone Johns had settled in to a job he liked at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, family members said.
sad sad sad…
June 11th, 2009 at 5:17 pmTime for a lawsuit for a wrongful death.
June 11th, 2009 at 5:26 pmMaybe Wackenhut doesn’t send the right message for the Holocaust museum. From SourceWatch
June 11th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
I worked as a Security Administrator 20 years ago. The Union should have a copy of the contract between Wackenhut and the museum or whoever they have a contract with to provide security at the museum. I think that is why the museum and Wackenhut are quiet on that issue. The contract is very detailed so that it can track costs.
June 11th, 2009 at 10:33 pmThe shooter had a 22 rim fire. The guard was shot in the head.
June 11th, 2009 at 11:02 pmDamn unions.
Who let him in with a gun?
June 11th, 2009 at 11:08 pmIn my opinion, there is no excuse for security not to have vests at such a high-profile site. If it’s because the company trying to save a buck, it’s twisted and part of the Milton Friedman influenced society we are currently in. If the museum got in the way of wearing vests, I’m even more disappointed. They are well aware of the type of hate there is out there and that extremists view their site as a prime target.
June 12th, 2009 at 1:28 am