If you answered former US Military, ex-CIA, and ex-DHS, you win!
Earlier this month the LA28 Olympic committee hired some guy called Reynold Hoover to be its third (!) CEO after Kathy Carter stepped down and only months after losing marquee sponsor Salesforce.
The previous two CEOs make more logical sense for the sports capital side of orchestrating the Games.
But who is Reynold Hoover? Has anyone in LA ever heard of him? What’s his deal?
Is he from here?
A Californian?
A sports business guy?
It turns out he’s none of the above!
Most notably, he’s a retired US Army Lieutenant General, which should give you an idea of how important militarism is to the Olympic concept.
Looking like the answer to the question, “What would Herman Munster look like if he was a cop?,” Hoover has spent the bulk of his career in the Middle East supervising the US war machine’s campaigns. He was retired, living in Maryland, whenever the desperate headhunters at LA28 came knocking.
Though he has no experience running mega sporting events, balancing budgets, working in sustainability, working in entertainment or sports in any capacity or working in the incredibly complex LA region, his military and intelligence bona fides will certainly come in handy as LA preps for the largest military security operation in a modern US city.
The Olympics are what’s called a National Special Security Event, which means we as a city hand over the keys to the Department of Homeland Security to essentially do whatever they want before, during, and likely after the 2028 Olympics. An NSSE would be cause for alarm in any American city but it certainly does not augur well for LA, home to the country’s largest populations most targeted by policing and surveillance: undocumented immigrants, unsheltered unhoused folks, and street vendors. This is where Hoover’s military background will play a role, as well as his experience with the CIA.
In fact, the NSSE took effect three days after Hoover’s hiring, meaning this will be the longest NSSE in US history, lasting over four years, a reality as unprecedented as it is frightening. So, in a way, he does have the requisite experience for an Olympics; he’s helped decimate cities, regions, and countries (including his own) for the entirety of his professional career.
A few more relevant bullets from his CV:
- Hoover led FEMA’s Office of National Security Coordination from 2003-2005 (hmmm, wonder what FEMA was coordinating in 2005)
- Hoover was the Special Assistant to the President for Homeland Security serving on the Homeland Security Council
- Hoover was the Senior Intelligence Service Officer in the Central Intelligence Agency
The NSSE will be executed through the California Olympic and Paralympic Public Safety Command (COPPSC), an ad hoc body that is coordinating this surveillance and policing nightmare. ICE, Customs and Border Protection, the NSA, LAPD, LASD, and every law enforcement agency in between will have a seat at the table. You and I will not.
After all, the Olympics are a project based on corporate and military profit, with sports as a sideshow.
Has Hoover ever been to LA? Who knows. Or who has that level of security clearance to know?
Will Hoover be CEO by the time 2028 rolls around? If the trend of public support plummeting over the past seven years continues, the Games will be even less popular (and likely very over budget). It’s going to be a hard sell to be the one holding the bag.
But again… who knows? Either way, LA’s favorite homegrown Proteon nepo bb Casey Wasserman will unquestionably still be the our city’s Olympic Chairman when 2028 comes around. He’ll be calling the shots — fully dictating how our City and County leaders will be spending their resources — and shouldering zero liability while he and his buddies crow all the way to the bank. And we’re here to pick up the pieces.
As the displacement-ridden, shitty reality of Paris 2024 looms around the corner, this is where we are.
- Read more about the NSSE here: