The Blacklist

Chapter 178: Another assassination near the end
Carrie had discussed this matter specifically with Elizabeth and Reddington before. They both understood the pros and cons of this and knew that this was a bomb. Instead of not knowing when it would explode, it would be better to prepare for it early and just fight it when it comes. Life is a constant struggle!
Now, Elizabeth is being held in the serious criminal detention room of the District of Columbia Court, under the joint supervision of USSS agents, SER action team and federal marshals. Donald and Nawabi are personally guarding the detention room to guard against any unexpected accidents - this was arranged by Wright himself.

There is another item in Carrie's arrangement: Elise's team is monitoring Laurel Hitchin comprehensively with the help of Leonard Carr, a former senior CIA analyst, and even her landline, mobile phone, computer, and emails are not spared - this would have been difficult to achieve, but with the dual support of the "master key" and the NSA's internal key, Carr's computer skills can easily do this.

In addition, Reddington's actions have also achieved excellent results. Those investigative reporters who have received shocking news are ready to make the criminal organization "Secret Society" public at the agreed time!
After spending countless efforts to set up a big chess game, it was finally time to finish it. Kerry was a little nervous! Now it seemed that the plan was going smoothly, but a journey of a hundred miles begins with a single step. There was still a possibility that the final step would fail. If it really came to that, his last resort would be to order the rescue of the people in the name of the SLR director, and then take Gina, Elizabeth and others on a great escape!

To this end, he also made a lot of preparations. In his personal space, he had plenty of vehicles, large stores of food, a lot of fake documents, weapons and ammunition, not to mention heavy equipment, including tanks, armored vehicles, yachts, speedboats, helicopters... But if possible, of course it would be better not to go this far.
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On Monday, June 6, as soon as the District of Columbia Court opened, Chief Judge Murdoch Denner announced that a grand jury (22-16 people) would be formed this morning and the trial of Elizabeth Keen would begin at 23 p.m.

Naturally, this news attracted great attention. Not only did a number of media outlets urgently dispatch reporters to the Special District Court on the east side of 6th Street, but many supporters of Senator Hawkins also gathered at the door of the court, carrying billboards that read "Punish the murderer severely"!
Because the case was extremely serious, the USMS (Federal Marshals Service) mobilized hundreds of elite marshals to be on duty inside the court, while the DCPD was responsible for outside the door and on the street. As more and more people gathered, the number of police officers continued to increase, reaching three hundred before the trial opened at two o'clock.

In addition, a large number of personnel from the CIA Overseas Intelligence Service, the Senate Intelligence Committee Office, and the FBI, who were the victims, came to the trial; Cooper also sat in the hearing seat in advance, but other core members of SER gathered in front of the detention room behind the court to protect Elizabeth's safety.

However, no one from the equally closely related SLR was present. One reason was that as a confidential department, they were not suitable for public appearances; the other reason was that they had all received special missions and were being distributed in various locations for preparation.
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At exactly two o'clock, Judge Denner announced the opening of the court and all parties took their seats.

This time the grand jury consists of 21 people. Although it does not reach the upper limit, it is far beyond the statutory standard of 16 people, which shows the judge's attention to this case.

In addition, the Chief Attorney of the District of Columbia personally served as the prosecutor, and witnesses included the Director of the CIA's Overseas Intelligence Service, the Director of Operations and the Deputy Director of the Counterterrorism Division of the FBI, as well as relevant personnel from various law enforcement departments such as the USSS, USPP, and DCPD. The lineup was large and high-end.

What is even more surprising is that before the trial began, DOJ Deputy Director Raven Wright publicly announced that she had officially resigned and obtained the approval of the Attorney General, effective immediately. In this trial, she will serve as the defendant's chief defense attorney as a barrister!
This surprised the judge, jury, audience and reporters present, who were all confused about the DOJ's real attitude.

Next, when the defendant Elizabeth Keene was brought into the courtroom, something happened again - in the corridor from the detention room to the courtroom, a federal marshal on duty suddenly drew his gun and shot at Elizabeth, but Donald, who was prepared, protected her behind him and blocked the shot with his heavy bulletproof vest. Mira, Nawabi, Alam and other SER members who were escorting her to the court fired back and shot the marshal into a sieve!

The courtroom was soundproofed, and no one in the courtroom heard the gunshots in the corridor upstairs. However, the captain of the bailiffs on duty in front of the court received a report on the walkie-talkie. His face changed drastically, and he hurried forward to tell the clerk...

After hearing the clerk's report, Judge Denner's face immediately darkened. Before he could figure out how to deal with the matter, Chief Defense Attorney Wright stood up and said, "Your Honor, my client was assassinated by a bailiff inside the courtroom. This shows that someone doesn't want my client to speak in court. We believe that the current courtroom environment is extremely unsafe, so we are applying to adjourn the courtroom and reopen the courtroom after re-establishing the security system."

When Judge Denner was considering Wright's proposal, the prosecutor immediately stood up to object, believing that court assassination was a low-probability event and could not affect the trial of this serious case...

Seeing the prosecution and the defense ready to argue, Judge Denner immediately made a decision: "This case is of great importance and must be tried as soon as possible... But in view of the suddenness of the incident, the court will be adjourned for one hour. Prosecutor, defense attorney, follow me..."
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In the judge's office at the back of the court, after a battle between the prosecution and the defense, Judge Denner finally decided on three points:

First, court security has become a joint effort between the USSS (Federal Secret Service) and the USMS (Federal Marshals Service). Marshals are not allowed to approach the defendant. SER action team members are responsible for protecting the defendant from the detention room to the courtroom, and USSS agents are responsible for the defendant's safety in the courtroom. (This is agreed by all three parties.)
The second is to agree to the defense's request to add witnesses and evidence immediately. (The prosecution was forced to agree.)
Third, the prosecutor agreed to the request that the trial process be broadcast live by the three major television networks. (The defense was "forced to agree.")
During the one-hour recess, everyone in the audience had already learned about the stabbing that took place inside the courthouse and understood the changes in court security.

Reporters even used various methods to spread the news of the assassination, causing great public outcry.

Then, the three major television networks received permission to broadcast the trial live. They quickly sent out their live broadcast teams and completed the preparations during the recess. It was pretty fast!
(End of this chapter)