Today, The New Yorker and The Trace published previously unseen footage of NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre hunting an elephant in Botswana and repeatedly wounding it, filmed in 2013 for a scrapped segment of an NRA-sponsored television show. The segment was reportedly cut from the episode for fear that it would be embarrassing for LaPierre. The species of elephant was later declared to be endangered. 

The footage shows LaPierre shooting the elephant several times in the wrong spot, with the host eventually firing the fatal shot after LaPierre is unable to do so. The footage also showed LaPierre’s wife, Susan LaPierre, shooting and killing an elephant, and then cutting off its tail and holding it over her head while shouting, “Victory!” Parts of the animals were allegedly surreptitiously shipped to the LaPierres, including the front feet, which were reportedly turned into stools for their home.

Mike Spies of The Trace wrote, “the footage, as well as newly uncovered legal records, suggest that behind his carefully constructed everyman image, LaPierre is a coddled executive who is clumsy with a firearm, and fearful of the violent political climate he has helped to create.” 

Read more from The New Yorker and The Trace.