Report: Jesus Campos Granted Fluff-Only Interview to Ellen DeGeneres Due to MGM Lawsuit Fears

Jesus Campos, the Mandalay Bay security guard who was the Vegas gunman's first victim, sat

A report indicates that Mandalay Bay security guard Jesus Campos was granted a fluff interview with Ellen DeGeneres as a way of letting him speak publicly without being pressured to give details about the timeline of the Las Vegas attack and open MGM Resorts International (MGM) to a lawsuit.

The timeline of the Vegas attack on October 1 has been changed already, specifically concerning the exact moment that Campos crossed paths with Stephen Paddock on Mandalay Bay’s 32nd floor.

Reporters were first told that Campos discovered Paddock after the attack on concert attendees had begun. Then, on October 9, Sheriff Joe Lombardo said Campos actually discovered Paddock six minutes before the attack began, that Campos was shot in the leg six minutes before concertgoers were fired upon. Two days later, a Mandalay Bay maintenance worker, Stephen Schuck, also confirmed that Paddock shot at him in the hallway before the attack began.

CBS News quoted Schuck saying he radioed a dispatcher and said, “Call the police. Someone is firing a gun up here, someone is firing a rifle on the 32nd floor.”

MGM, which owns Mandalay Bay, questioned the timeline when it indicated hotel personnel knew there was an armed attacker six minutes before the attack began. The Associated Press quoted MGM saying, “We cannot be certain about the most recent timeline. We believe what is currently being expressed may not be accurate.”

Last week, Campos was scheduled to speak to the media about what he witnessed, but he suddenly disappeared. He resurfaced this week, and it was announced that he would give one–and only one–interview, and that would be to Ellen DeGeneres. He gave that interview on October 18 and was not pressed to answer any questions about the timeline or to give any information about when he discovered Paddock.

Now, the Daily Mail reports that Campos was allowed to do the Ellen interview because MGM knew he would not be pressed on the timeline. According to the Daily Mail, an unnamed source said, “MGM was behind the decision to call off all the interviews and did a deal with Ellen, knowing she would not play hardball on the timeline as long as she had the exclusive.”

The Daily Mail emphasizes that the timeline is crucial because “MGM is worried that families of the 58 people murdered as well as many of the 546 injured in the Mandalay Bay massacre will launch lawsuits potentially worth billions of dollars against the company.”

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.

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