In August, 19-year-old Harry Dunn was killed when his motorcycle was struck by a car on a road in Northamptonshire, England. The car was reportedly driving down the wrong side of the road when it hit and killed Dunn. The main suspect was 42-year-old Anne Sacoolas, an American citizen and the wife of a U.S. intelligence officer. Pleading diplomatic immunity, Sacoolas fled the country to return to the United States, leaving Dunn’s parents, Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn, to pick up the pieces and wonder whether or not justice will be served. Since then, Charles and Dunn have waged a campaign to get answers, recently making a trip to the United States in the hopes of drumming up support.
In an appearance on CBS This Morning, the couple spoke about how they were surprised on Tuesday, when they received a call, out of the blue, to come to the White House to speak with a “senior official,” as “soon as you can get there.” They were further surprised to be led into a room in the White House where President Donald Trump himself was. According to Charles, Trump “offered his condolences,” saying he was “welcoming” and “warm.” Of course, that was short-lived, and the last surprise the White House had for Dunn’s parents did not sit well with them at all. “But it didn’t take long for him to drop in that Anne Sacoolas was in the building.” This surprise was not welcome at all to the parents of Dunn.
On the family’s GoFundMe page, set up to cover some of the parents’ costs, a spokesman for the family, Radd Seiger wrote that, “it was the President’s intention for Harry’s family to meet Mrs. Sacoolas in the Oval Office in front of several photographers in what was obviously designed to be a press call.” Very diplomatically keeping Trump out of the blame, the family went after Trump’s national security adviser Robert O’Brien, saying “It struck us that this meeting was hastily arranged by nincompoops on the run and in particular Mr O’Brien who appeared to be extremely uptight and aggressive and did not come across at all well in this meeting which required careful handling and sensitivity.”
Through her attorneys, Sacoolas has apologized and said she would like to meet the parents, but Dunn’s parents have said that while they would like to meet Sacoolas too, “We still don’t wish her any ill harm, but we need to hear it from her, in her own words, on our terms, in the U.K.” Harry Dunn’s parents reiterated that sentiment on CBS, Wednesday morning, explaining that setting up a reality-show-style photo op was not healthy for anyone involved.
Charlotte Charles explained that much more thought would need to be given before having a meeting with Sacoolas. “You know, with therapists, and mediators, and that’s not just for us, that’s for her as well. You know, she’s traumatized, her children are traumatized. To be thrown into a room together with no prior warning, that’s not good for her mental health—it’s certainly not good for ours.”
Tim Dunn said he hoped that Trump was sincere when he told the couple that he would “look at the problem from a different angle.” Hopefully, more empathetic people will be able to intervene to give everyone involved in this tragedy some resolution.