{"id":763628,"date":"2021-04-29T07:15:51","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T11:15:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/animalrightswatch.us\/?p=763628"},"modified":"2021-04-29T07:51:20","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T11:51:20","slug":"too-cold-for-hell-the-secret-footage-of-the-national-rifle-association-nra-chief-and-his-wifes-cruel-elephant-hunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/animalrightswatch.us\/?p=763628","title":{"rendered":"TWO EVIL FOR HELL: The Secret and Cruel Footage of National Rifle Association’s Leader and Wife Shooting Elephants"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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Susan LaPierre showed herself to be a better shot than her husband, Wayne. After guides tracked down an elephant for her, Susan killed her, cut off her tail, and held it in the air. 'Victory' she shouted, laughing. 'That\u2019s my elephant tail. Way cool.'<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\n

MIKE SPIES:<\/strong> After the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in 2012, Wayne LaPierre, the head of the National Rifle Association, told Americans agitating for new gun regulations, \u201cThe only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.\u201d Less than a year later, LaPierre and his wife, Susan, travelled to Botswana\u2019s Okavango Delta, where they hoped to show N.R.A. members that they had the grit to take on a different adversary: African bush elephants, the largest land mammals on Earth. The trip was filmed by a crew from \u201cUnder Wild Skies,\u201d an N.R.A.-sponsored television series that was meant to boost the organization\u2019s profile among hunters\u2014a key element of its donor base. But the program never aired, according to sources and records, because of concerns that it could turn into a public-relations fiasco.<\/p>\n

The Trace and The New Yorker obtained a copy of the footage, which has been hidden from public view for eight years. It shows that when guides tracked down an elephant for LaPierre, the N.R.A. chief proved to be a poor marksman. After LaPierre\u2019s first shot wounded the elephant, guides brought him a short distance from the animal, which was lying on its side, immobilized. Firing from point-blank range, LaPierre shot the animal three times in the wrong place. Finally, a guide had the host of \u201cUnder Wild Skies\u201d fire the shot that killed the elephant. Later that day, Susan LaPierre showed herself to be a better shot than her husband. After guides tracked down an elephant for her, Susan killed it, cut off its tail, and held it in the air. \u201cVictory!\u201d she shouted, laughing. \u201cThat\u2019s my elephant tail. Way cool”…<\/p>\n

The footage of LaPierre in Botswana first shows him walking through the bush dressed in loose-fitting safari attire and an NRA Sports baseball cap. He is accompanied by several professional guides and his longtime adviser, Tony Makris, a top executive at the N.R.A.\u2019s former public-relations firm, Ackerman McQueen, and the host of \u201cUnder Wild Skies.\u201d The heat, at times, causes LaPierre to sweat. As he walks, his wire-framed glasses slide down his nose. After a guide spots an elephant standing behind a tree, LaPierre takes aim with a rifle. As LaPierre peers through the weapon\u2019s scope, the guide repeatedly tells him to wait before firing. LaPierre is wearing earplugs, doesn\u2019t hear the instructions, and pulls the trigger. The elephant drops. \u201cDid we get him?\u201d LaPierre asks.<\/p>\n

The guide at first says yes, but then, as he approaches the elephant, it appears that the animal is still breathing. The guide brings LaPierre within a few strides of the elephant, which lays motionless on the ground. He tells LaPierre that another bullet is needed. \u201cI\u2019m going to show you where to shoot,\u201d the guide says. \u201cListen, hold your rifle\u2014I\u2019m going to tell you when. Just hold it up.\u201d The guide pushes the rifle\u2019s barrel skyward as other men involved in the expedition move around in the distance. \u201cI\u2019m going to point for you where to shoot. Just waiting for these guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

The guide walks over to the elephant, crouches down, and points near the animal\u2019s ear, telling LaPierre to shoot the elephant there. Makris directs LaPierre to shoot low, accounting for the rifle scope. LaPierre fires and a confused expression comes over his face. Once again, he shoots the elephant in the wrong place. It\u2019s still alive. The guide tells LaPierre to sit down and reminds him to reload, as he physically moves LaPierre into place. Now on one knee, the N.R.A. leader asks, \u201cSame spot?\u201d and then shoots again. The bullet misses the mark.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s quite done yet,\u201d the guide says to Makris. \u201cDo you want to do it for him?\u201d The guide then says to LaPierre, \u201cI\u2019m not sure where you\u2019re shooting.\u201d \u201cWhere are you telling me to shoot?\u201d LaPierre responds, sounding frustrated. The guide again walks over to the elephant and points toward the ear. \u201cOh, O.K.,\u201d LaPierre says. \u201cAll right, I can shoot there.\u201d He takes a third shot at point-blank range. \u201cUh-uh,\u201d the guide says, indicating that LaPierre has missed his mark again. \u201cNo?\u201d LaPierre asks. As the guide chuckles, Makris asks, \u201cDo you want me to do it?\u201d \u201cGo ahead, finish him,\u201d the guide says. Makris cocks his rifle and shoots. \u201cThat\u2019s it,\u201d the guide declares, before turning to the N.R.A. chief to congratulate him. Makris, ignoring his own role, praises LaPierre\u2019s marksmanship, \u201cYou dropped him like no tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, LaPierre and the guide chat beside the dead elephant, a species that was declared endangered earlier this year. LaPierre acknowledges that his initial shot wasn\u2019t \u201cperfect.\u201d The guide encourages him. \u201cHe went down, so that\u2019s what counts.\u201d Looking sheepish, LaPierre lets out a laugh and says, \u201cMaybe I had a little luck”…<\/p>\n

In the video footage from Botswana, Susan\u2019s hair is pulled back in a ponytail, her nails are manicured, and her large stud earrings sparkle in the sun. She walks through the dry vegetation, until two elephants come into view and a guide sets up a stand that Susan uses to steady her rifle. The elephant in front stares directly at Susan and the guide. \u201cO.K., you want to do a front or you want to do a side?\u201d the guide whispers. \u201cWhich one do you feel more comfortable with?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, right now I\u2019ve got him right in the front,\u201d she says. The guide tells her to aim for a crease between the elephant\u2019s eyes. When she fires, the bullet enters the creature\u2019s head, its trunk immediately flops toward the sky, and it collapses onto its belly before rolling onto its side. The elephant appears to be dead, but Susan, from closer range and at the guide\u2019s direction, fires one more bullet in its chest \u201cfor insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was amazing,\u201d Susan says, patting her chest. \u201cWow. My heart is racing. I feel great.\u201d She walks over to the elephant. \u201cThat was awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome.\u201d She inspects the elephant, bends at the waist, and seems to think the elephant is still alive. \u201cAww, he\u2019s still there. Look at his eyes.\u201d She places her hand on her chest, laughs, walks around the elephant, and pats one of its tusks. \u201cBeautiful animal,\u201d she says, and then, speaking to the elephant, \u201cYou\u2019re a good old guy. A real good old guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

She grows emotional and appears to choke up, then asks a guide about the elephant\u2019s age.\u201cMust be close to fifty years old, I would say,\u201d the guide says. \u201cYou think so?\u201d she asks. \u201cThat\u2019s exactly what I wanted. An old bull. Near the end of his age.\u201d The guide tells her she\u2019s allowed to cry. \u201cWhat an experience this is,\u201d she says. \u201cOnce in a lifetime.\u201d She rests a hand on the elephant\u2019s forehead. \u201cI was practicing this shot all day long.\u201d She laughs again. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t sure what we were doing. Amazing. That\u2019s just incredible. Quite a day. Two beautiful African elephant in one day.\u201d Susan touches the animal\u2019s feet. \u201cHe\u2019s so wrinkly. . . . Wow. A podiatrist would love working on him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon, Wayne enters the frame. He hugs his wife, congratulates her, and says, \u201cI\u2019m proud of you. That is really neat.\u201d A person off-camera asks Susan if the elephant looked like it was going to charge her, and she says no, but that the animal \u201cwas checking us out.\u201d Wayne responds, \u201cBut if he was looking at you like that, he could\u2019ve charged.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, a guide invites Susan to cut off the elephant\u2019s tail, a ritual he says hunters performed in the \u201colden days\u201d to claim their animal. Susan hesitates, but begins cutting the tail with a knife. \u201cOh, it\u2019s like a fish almost, with the center cartilage,\u201d she says. Once the tail is off, she raises it in the air, and stretches out her arms, the bloody knife in one hand and the tail in the other. \u201cHere in Botswana, in the Okavango Delta, with \u2018Under Wild Skies,\u2019 \u201d she says, and then laughs again.<\/p>\n

Hunts in Botswana can cost tens of thousands of dollars per person, and, according to testimony in the bankruptcy case, a company that belongs to Makris covered the LaPierres\u2019 costs. After the trip, in late September of 2013, footage of Makris shooting an elephant on a different expedition aired on NBC Sports, which then hosted \u201cUnder Wild Skies.\u201d The episode caused an immediate public backlash.<\/p>\n

The footage of the LaPierre hunt never aired, but records show that the couple still wanted their trophies. To avoid bad publicity\u2014and at Susan\u2019s written request\u2014body parts from both elephants were shipped to the U.S. in a hidden manner. A man travelled two hours to Johannesburg to remove the couple\u2019s names from shipping crates. The Master Airway Bill was in the name of a taxidermist, whom Makris\u2019s company paid to turn the animals\u2019 front feet into stools for Wayne and Susan\u2019s home. SOURCE…<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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