Serious questions are being raised about the effectiveness of the level of security being provided by the Secret Service after a suspected drunk driver came dangerously close to Vice President Kamala Harris’ motorcade on Interstate 94 in Milwaukee on Monday night.
A 55-year-old Milwaukee man was driving the wrong way and heading westbound in the eastbound lanes of I-94 – and heading straight toward the Vice President’s convoy.
Despite the motorcade’s high level of protection surrounding the vice president, the driver was able to approach the convoy moments before Milwaukee County sheriff’s deputies intervened and stopped him just in time.
Police say the man had an open bottle of alcohol in the car he was driving and believed him to be impaired.
A 55-year-old Milwaukee man was caught on camera driving the wrong way and heading westbound in the eastbound lanes of I-94 – and heading straight toward the VP’s convoy
Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris had been traveling in her motorcade just moments after the wrong-way driver was stopped by Milwaukee police
After field sobriety tests were conducted the man was taken into custody on charges of operating while intoxicated and recklessly endangering safety.
According to the arrest report, when officers told the driver ‘he almost struck a vehicle in the VPOTUS motorcade, he was extremely surprised and had no recollection of entering the freeway or coming close to striking another vehicle. He also stated he did not have any intention of harming Vice President Kamala Harris or anybody related to her campaign.’
While no one was injured in the incident, the fact that the driver came so close to the Vice President has led to growing concerns over how such a breach of security occurred.
In a statement the Secret Service said: ‘We are aware of the incident involving a motorist traveling in the opposite direction on the highway while the Vice President was in her motorcade. We are grateful to the Milwaukee Sheriff’s Office for their response which allowed them to stop the motorist and take the driver into custody for DUI.’
The Secret Service, tasked with safeguarding both Harris and her Republican opponent Donald Trump, is facing scrutiny over whether current protocols are sufficient to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The attempted assassination against former Trump at a Pennsylvania rally in July was ‘preventable and should not have happened’, according to a bipartisan investigation into the shooting detailed in a report from a House task force, released on Monday.
Despite the motorcade’s high level of protection surrounding the vice president, the driver was able to approach the convoy moments before Milwaukee County sheriff’s deputies intervened and stopped him just in time
The car was caught on surveillance cameras as the car, being driven by a drunk driver, could be seen passing through a couple police cars as it headed the wrong way
A new independent report on the first assassination attempt on Donald Trump described the ‘stunning security failures’ surrounding the event at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13
It described the ‘stunning security failures’ surrounding the event at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
One rallygoer was killed in the shooting and two others were wounded.
Members of both the US House and Senate have repeatedly questioned why the Secret Service did not do a better job communicating with local authorities during the campaign rally.
Of particular concern was by a building that had been widely agreed to be a security threat was not secured, thereby allowing gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, to access it and open fire.
Legislators in their report focus on ‘the fragmented lines of communication and unclear chains of command’ between the Secret Service and Pennsylvania state and local police, but place the majority of the blame on the Secret Service for the security breakdown.
‘Federal, state, and local law enforcement officers could have engaged Thomas Matthew Crooks at several pivotal moments,’ the report stated.
Of particular concern was by a building that had been widely agreed to be a security threat was not secured, thereby allowing gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, to access it. Pictured, Secret Service agents stand over the body of the would-be assassin following the shooting
Crooks is pictured walking around the Trump rally before opening fire hours later, killing an attendee, critically injuring two others and grazing the former president’s right ear
Legislators added that throughout the afternoon, ‘as Crooks’s behaviour became increasingly suspicious, fragmented lines of communication allowed Crooks to evade law enforcement’ and climb onto the unsecured roof where he would eventually start shooting.
‘Put simply, the evidence obtained by the Task Force to date shows the tragic and shocking events of July 13 were preventable and should not have happened,’ the report continued.
The preliminary findings are drawn from thousands of pages of documents, nearly two dozen transcribed interviews with state and local officials as well as a series of both classified and non-classified briefings from senior officials at the Secret Service and the FBI.
The report breaks little new ground, as the failed Secret Service response has been already documented by an independent commission, an interim Senate report as well as congressional testimony and news media investigations.
The House report, like others before it, does not identify specific individuals who may be to blame but at least five Secret Service agents have been placed on modified duty.
The task force has also begun investigating a second assassination attempt on Trump last month where a man with a rifle camped outside one of his golf courses in southern Florida. Suspect Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, is pictured
FBI officers check the side of the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, in September following what appeared to be an attempted assassination of Donald Trump
The director of the Secret Service at the time, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned shortly after the shooting, saying she took full responsibility for the lapse.
The task force – comprising seven Republicans and six Democrats – showcased some of the report’s findings during a public hearing last month.
Lawmakers say they plan to issue a final report, including recommendations to avoid future assassination attempts against political candidates, by mid-December.
The task force has also begun investigating a second assassination attempt on Trump last month where Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, camped with a rifle outside one of his golf courses in southern Florida.
Earlier this month, fears emerged of a third assassination attempt on Trump when a man was arrested outside his rally in Coachella, California with two firearms and a high capacity magazine.
