Former Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, in a Newsmax interview, says there is no doubt the individual responsible for shooting and killing 18 people in Lewiston, Maine, planned his escape.
Whitaker made his remarks during a Friday appearance on Newsline. Police had identified the suspect as Robert Card.
“There's no doubt that this individual planned his escape,” Whitaker said. “It's pretty clear based on finding his car at the boat launch. You know, I read something today that suggested there are at least four outcomes that were possible based on sort of where the car was recovered.
“And it is obviously important for law enforcement, not only to neutralize him as a threat, but also to maintain their own safety and discipline because, as you can imagine, they don't want to miss him somehow or have him double back behind them.
“You remember a couple of weeks ago we had the individual who was an escapee from jail and how he was able to evade law enforcement for a period of time. And so I think the important thing on all of this is to make sure that the lessons from that case are learned. If there were mistakes, or if there were additional ways that this individual could be tracked, that they learned those lessons, and I think that's in all of these situations where law enforcement is pretty good about learning the lessons and then training their colleagues across the country in what they learned in each case."
Asked if there is a chance the suspect may have killed himself, Whitaker replied: “Yeah and that is obviously, typically, how some of these cases end in that way — whether it's a suicide or suicide by cop. But ultimately, you know, they're doing the investigation, which includes sort of trying to figure out whether he left any cookie crumbs to suggest where he was going to go after he committed this awful attack at these locations."
Asked about the left-pushing gun control now, he replied: “I think it's also very dangerous to every time we have an incident like this, where we have significant tragedy and everyone's heart is broken because of the senseless killing by our fellow citizens, I think we need to remember that we need to approach this issue with a sober and clear-eyed approach. And as you know, the left reacts emotionally to these cases.”
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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