PROGRAM OF TARGETED ACTION AGAINST THE DOMESTIC TERRORIST KNOWN AS “THE DARK ONE”
Washington, DC
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Testimony of Matthew Weekes, Subject 4 of Project Ringer; Sloane Andrews, Subject 2 of Project Ringer; Esther Park, Subject 1 of Project Ringer; and Ines Mejia, Subject 3 of Project Ringer.
MATTHEW WEEKES: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’d like to thank you and the committees here for inviting us today to speak on our own behalf, which has happened somewhat rarely since the beginning of all this. And I’d like to thank you for your commitment to keeping an accurate public record of what happened so it’s not easily forgotten. That’s something that’s really important to all of us.
The four of us came here today to give an account of the events of March 15, 2010, the day of the Dark One’s defeat. We consulted with each other on this prepared statement, and when I finish, we will be available for questions.
So . . . I’ll just get started, then.
In the weeks leading up to March 15, the Dark One and his followers were quiet. The Dark One had kidnapped two of our number for a period of twenty-four hours, during which Albie—I mean Albert Summers—sustained serious injuries. Albie was still in the hospital, and since we weren’t sure the extent to which he would recover mobility, we had to change our plan of attack significantly.
We had done a year of reconnaissance work, with the help of ARIS, trying to discover the Dark One’s origins. But we found no record of him whatsoever. It was as if he had just . . . appeared. But one of us—
ESTHER PARK: Me. I did.
MATTHEW WEEKES: Okay, Esther pointed out that that in itself told us something—
ESTHER PARK: It told us that at the very least, he didn’t want to be traced. Which meant he had likely gotten one of his followers to do everything for him. After all, he needed food and lodging just like anyone else. So we gave up on learning anything about his origins, and instead we focused on investigating his most loyal followers. It was slow going. They covered their tracks really well.
MATTHEW WEEKES: But about two weeks after Sloane and Albie got back—
sloane andrews: [inaudible]
MATTHEW WEEKES: We finally got a break. Esther successfully identified one of the Dark One’s followers as Charles Wright, who worked as a [redacted] at [redacted] and lived in one of the condos at what was then Chicago’s Trump Tower.
INES MEJIA: So I went to have a look, posing as one of the janitors. A couple people went in and out of the apartment while I was cleaning the windows, didn’t give me a second glance. One time, when the apartment door opened, I spotted him in a crowd of them—the Dark One himself was there. Which was huge—before this we hadn’t known where the Dark One was between attacks.
ESTHER PARK: The rest of us were visiting Albie at the hospital. And it was lucky that we were, because otherwise we might not have gotten Sloane’s idea . . . Sloane?
SLOANE ANDREWS: Yeah?
ESTHER PARK: You want to tell this part?
SLOANE ANDREWS: Okay. Um—I suggested we set a trap. I would do a work of significant magic at the base of Trump Tower on the Wabash Avenue Bridge—the Irv Kupcinet Bridge is technically its name. I figured if I made it visible enough, the Dark One or his followers would be able to see me from the condo.
SENATOR GOO: Pardon me for interrupting. We very much appreciate your testimony on this matter. But before you proceed, I’d like to ask Ms. Andrews a question.
MATTHEW WEEKES: Um. I don’t think—
SLOANE ANDREWS: Go for it, Senator.
SENATOR GOO: Thank you, Ms. Andrews. I was wondering—I’ve always wondered—how did you know that the Dark One would fall for such a trap?
SLOANE ANDREWS: Well, for one thing, I figured if he saw one of the people fated to destroy him—or whatever the prophecy says—making an open challenge, he wouldn’t be able to resist going out to kill them.
SENATOR GOO: Yes, I’ve heard you give that reasoning in several interviews since the Dark One’s defeat. But I can’t help but think that it was just as likely he would know you were setting a trap.
[silence]
SENATOR GOO: Ms. Andrews?
SLOANE ANDREWS: Sorry, I—it’s hard to explain. I had had—I guess I’d had a very specific experience of the Dark One, a unique experience, when I was in captivity. It was only twenty-four hours, but . . .