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Daniel Nerio/Courier
Assistant Opinion Editor Philip McCormick is interviewed by ABC 7 reporter Miriam Hernandez at The Cap & Gown room on June 7, 2012.

It was stunning. At about 10 a.m. two officials wearing sweatshirts emblazoned with “Los Angeles County DA” on their backs, got out of a car that had just pulled into Parking Lot 1 and walked into the Facility Services building.

As any curious reporter would, I followed and asked them why they were here. They said they couldn’t talk about it because it involved an ongoing investigation.  An employee of the Campus Police Department had escorted them to Facilities, as they were walking into the building the DA agents told her that other DA officials had earlier been on campus.

College General Counsel Gail Cooper was inside the Facilities office. Cooper told me that she would not answer any questions from the media and that there would be a news conference at 2 p.m.

The DA investigators were by now grabbing paperwork and placing documents into boxes. Later it was learned that they also had taken computer hard drives from the offices of Vice President of Administrative Affairs Rick van Pelt and Facilities Supervisor Al Hutchings.

Later that morning, I was one of five Courier reporters assigned to cover the official news conference. When it started, it emerged that an official statement would be read by President Mark  Rocha who was accompanied by Board of Trustees President Geoffrey Baum. No questions would be taken.

After the “news conference,” a reporter from ABC Eyewitness News requested an interview. It was agreed.

ABC 7 Reporter Miriam Hernandez asked what I had seen earlier when the DAs agents arrived on campus. As the interview ended, Lancer Radio also requested a live interview from me, Courier Editor-in-Chief Neil Protacio and Chief Photographer Daniel Nerio.

We told the radio listeners what we had seen.

We had just been eyewitnesses to PCC history in the making.

Philip McCormick
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