REVEALED: NRA boss Wayne LaPierre retreated to a friend’s $1.8M yacht dubbed ‘Illusions’ for weeks at a time fleeing threats after mass shootings at Sandy Hook and Parkland
- LaPierre revealed the arrangement in a deposition unsealed on Monday
- Said he often retreated to a Hollywood pal’s 108-foot yacht for security
- Yacht jaunts followed the mass shootings at Sandy Hook and Parkland
- Deposition was revealed during NRA bankruptcy proceedings in Texas
Wayne LaPierre, the CEO of the National Rifle Association, frequently sought refuge on a friend’s yacht when he received threats in the wake of a mass shooting, it has been revealed.
LaPierre’s use of the 108-foot yacht owned by a Hollywood producer pal was disclosed in a deposition unsealed on Monday during NRA bankruptcy proceedings in a Texas court.
‘They simply let me use it as a security retreat because they knew the threat that I was under. And I was basically under presidential threat without presidential security in terms of the number of threats I was getting,’ LaPierre said in the deposition, according to the Daily News.
‘And this was the one place that I hope could feel safe, where I remember getting there going, ‘Thank God I’m safe, nobody can get me here.’ And that’s how it happened. That’s why I used it,’ he said.
Wayne LaPierre, the CEO of the National Rifle Association, frequently sought refuge on a friend’s yacht when he received threats in the wake of a mass shooting, a deposition reveals
LaPierre retreated to the luxurious yacht when threats against him mounted, including after the deadly school shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012 and Parkland, Florida in 2018
LaPierre retreated to the luxurious yacht when threats against him mounted, including after the deadly school shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012 and Parkland, Florida in 2018.
The yacht, dubbed ‘Illusions’, is equipped with two jet skis, an excursion boat, and sleeps up to 10 people.
LaPierre’s use of the yacht was brought out by a New York prosecutor who is challenging the NRA’s bankruptcy filing, which came as the company reorganizes in Texas to avoid a lawsuit brought by New York State Attorney General Letitia James.
Assistant Attorney General Monica Connell argued in opening remarks that LaPierre’s use of the yacht was a conflict of interest and violation of rules surrounding the NRA’s nonprofit status.
The $1.8 million yacht, dubbed ‘Illusions’, is equipped with two jet skis, an excursion boat, and sleeps up to 10 people
Students hold their hands in the air as they are evacuated by police from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida following a shooting in 2018
Connell said that the NRA pays McKenzie $1 million a month for media projects, but did not disclose the CEO’s use of the yacht.
The NRA countersued the New York AG in February, accusing James of ‘weaponizing’ her powers to pursue a ‘blatant and malicious retaliation campaign’ against the group because she dislikes what it stands for.
The ongoing hearing in Texas bankruptcy court is expected to last six days. A judge will rule if the bankruptcy case should proceed there, or return to New York.
The NRA was founded in New York in 1871 but in January announced its plan to leave the state and reorganize in Texas.
Noting that the NRA claims to be solvent, James has called its bankruptcy and plan to reincorporate in Texas after 150 years in New York a bad-faith effort to escape her lawsuit and oversight.
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