Mr. Stern. Did your office also take steps to assure that there would be no interference with free speech and lawful public demonstrations?
Mr. Sorrels. Yes, we discussed with the police what action would be taken if people showed up with placards and attempted to interfere. And it was very definitely stated that if they had placards, just the mere fact that they had placards would not cause them to be picked up. But that we did not want them close enough to where the President would come or where he would be that these might be used to cause any harm to the President or the Vice President or members of their families.
There had recently been passed in Dallas an ordinance making it unlawful for any person to interfere or attempt to interfere with or intimidate another from freely entering premises where a private or public assembly was being held. We obtained copies of that ordinance and studied them to see what action the police would be able to take in the event that any instance arose whereby this ordinance might need to be enforced.
Mr. Stern. Now, you have told us, Mr. Sorrels, that you had no record of any PRS subject that you were checking on in your office, and that Lawson advised you that he had been told of no subject in your area in his advance check before he left Washington. Did this surprise you, that there were no individuals who had previously been identified as potential threats to the President in the territory of the Dallas office?
Mr. Sorrels. No. We had records of some subjects that were in institutions, but they were not out where they would be available.
Mr. Stern. Had there been in the past, during your tenure in the Dallas office, PRS subjects who were not in institutions?
Mr. Sorrels. Oh, yes.
Mr. Stern. But there were none at this particular time?
Mr. Sorrels. That is right.
Mr. Stern. When the incident involving Ambassador Stevenson had occurred, did you consider obtaining information on the participants and referring that information to the Protective Research Section in Washington for their files?