When the nation’s collective attention was drawn suddenly to the news reports and video of former President Donald Trump being wounded, and very nearly killed, while speaking at a campaign rally last Saturday, former U.S. Army Military Police Earl Burdette was watching the events unfold from a different viewpoint.
Burdette, a longtime law enforcement officer in Sardis and Como and now supervisor of District 2, had a long military career that included extensive service with a Military Police detail based at Ft. Hood, TX.
It was there he learned high level protection techniques and Secret Service protocol, scoring so well that his unit was chosen to supplement the Secret Service protection at two Presidential Inaugurations – first for President Barack Obama and then for President Donald Trump.
Watching the person he trained to protect on a specific day come under high powered rifle fire was sickening, Burdette said. He quickly noticed, though, the same drills and techniques he saw practiced while undergoing detailed training for the inauguration events.
“Like everybody else I was really surprised that the guy got on the roof, but knowing what I saw during those events in Washington it was almost unbelievable to me,” Burdette said.
As an example, Burdette said at one of the inauguration ceremonies he and other MPs were to stand at a strategic spot – not close to the platform with the new President, but within range to provide coverage – when an officer next to him casually let his hand rest on his holstered firearm. Within seconds dots of red appeared on the officer’s hand and body, representing lasers-aimed weapons trained on the person.
“The commander saw it and knocked his hand off the weapon and the dots went away,” Burdette said. “I knew then the Secret Service does not miss, and so that’s why I just couldn’t see how that kid got up there in the first place.”
Besides the inaugurations, Burdette provided close security for President George W. Bush when he visited Ft. Hood on more than one occasion. Other state and national officials, and some high ranking military officers, have been under his watch in years past, but it’s the Presidential detail help of which he’s most proud.
“This badge they issued me, not a lot of people ever have the opportunity to get this,” Burdette said. “It means that the highest of the highest, the best police officers and protection specialists had enough faith in me to allow me to help and to interact one on one with them. I’m proud of all my police work and my military service, but this really is close to my heart. It’s the only thing I have in a box or a frame.”
Burdette is a lifelong member of the Democratic Party and personal friends with Sen. Bennie Thompson, who less than a year ago proposed Congress remove the Secret Service protection provided to Trump, saying the former President forfeited his right to service for his part in the Jan. 6 rioting after the last election.
“I said then that would not be a good thing for the country, either a former Republican or Democrat president,” Burdette said. “But I won’t make any kind of statements about what caused this or that because the Military Police have a code that doesn’t allow us to see those kinds of things.”
“To me, Donald Trump will always be a Commander-in-Chief, the same as Barack Obama and the rest of them,” Burdette said. “Once a Commander-in-Chief, always a Commander-in-Chief. When you earn the right to protect a man who is Commander-in-Chief it goes way past parties or the type of person it is. It’s your country giving you the opportunity to serve in a way very few people ever get and I’m proud of that.”
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