On Being a Police Officer Ep. 60 ATF Agent Pete Forcelli (Ret) turned whistleblower on Operation Fast and Furious and his new book "The Deadly Path" – Part Two
Ep. 60 In Part Two with Pete Forcelli, we discuss his promotion in 2007 to ATF Deputy Assistant Director of the Phoenix Division and the series of events that led him to turn whistleblower on the scandal known as Operation Fast and Furious. Pete documents it all in his new book “The Deadly Path: How Operation Fast and Furious and Bad lawyers Armed Mexican Cartels.”
It’s a page turning account of his shocking discovery that ATF agents were being ordered by federal prosecutors to let illegally purchased guns cross the border into Mexico so they could be tracked. Unfortunately, the ATF lost track of more than 1400 guns that were allowed to walk, two of them used in the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in 2010 and later were feared to have been used in the assassination attempt on Gabby Giffords.
When prosecutors responsible for the gun walking attempted to indict special agent turned whistleblower John Dodson, Pete stepped forward to testify before Congress. He did so at great peril to himself and his career. It took four years for him to clear his name. This is not just an ATF story, this is not just a government story. It’s the story of a man who stepped forward to do the right thing, the cost of which took its toll.
We also cover the Jean Baptiste Kingery grenade walking scandal. Pete and his team were able to get Kingery to confess to transporting inert grenades into Mexico to convert them into explosives. But the very same prosecutor behind Fast and Furious refused to approve Kingery’s arrest. Kingery was released and returned to Mexico to continue working with the cartels.
After testifying, Pete went on to hold a number of roles with ATF including as special agent in charge of the Miami Field Division during which he oversaw ATF's response to some of our country's worst mass shootings: at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport and at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. And he led the investigation into the acquisition of the firearms that were used in the Pulse Nightclub Shooting.
If you missed In Part One of my conversation with Pete in Ep. 59, we covered his time with NYPD walking a foot beat in the Bronx and later becoming a homicide detective. He left NYPD after 15 years to join ATF in New York in June 2001. He was one of many who responded to Ground Zero on 9/11 and one of many diagnosed with lung cancer for which Pete has been successfully treated.
We pick up in Episode Two with Pete’s move to Phoenix.
You can find Pete’s book "The Deadly Path" on all major book retailers including Amazon. You can find Pete and get a signed copy of the book at his website. And you can find Pete on LinkedIn. Here is info on his co-author Keelin McGregor in case you're looking for someone to help you write that book.
I would like to honor the work and sacrifice of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. End of Watch Wednesday, December 15, 2010
https://www.odmp.org/officer/20596-border-patrol-agent-brian-a-terry
Agent Terry was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and had served with the United States Border Patrol for 3 1/2 years. He had previously served as a police officer with the Lincoln Park, Michigan, Police Department. He is survived by his parents, brother, two sisters, five nieces, and one nephew.
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