Serious questions are being raised about the effectiveness of the level of security provided by the Secret Service after a suspected drunk driver came dangerously close to Vice President Kamala Harris’ motorcade on Interstate 94 in Milwaukee Monday evening.
A 55-year-old Milwaukee man was driving the wrong way, heading west on the eastbound lanes of I-94 — and straight toward the vice president’s convoy.
Despite the high level of protection provided by the motorcade surrounding the vice president, the driver was able to approach the convoy just before Milwaukee County sheriff’s deputies intervened and stopped him just in time.
Police say the man had an open container of alcohol in the car he was driving and believed he was impaired.
A 55-year-old Milwaukee man was caught on camera driving the wrong way and westbound in the eastbound lanes of I-94 – driving straight into the VP convoy
Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris was 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 hit a vehicle in the VPOTUS motorcade, he was extremely surprised and had no memory of entering the highway or almost hitting another vehicle. He also stated that he had no intention of harming Vice President Kamala Harris or anyone associated with her campaign.”
Although no one was injured in the incident, the driver’s proximity to the vice president has led to growing concerns about how such a security breach 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 driving under the influence.”
The Secret Service, charged with protecting both Harris and her Republican opponent Donald Trump, is investigating whether current protocols are sufficient to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The attempted assassination of former Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania in July was “preventable and should not have happened,” according to a bipartisan investigation into the shooting detailed in a House task force report released Monday released.
Despite the high level of protection provided by the motorcade surrounding the vice president, the driver was able to approach the convoy just before Milwaukee County sheriff’s deputies intervened and stopped him just in time.
The car was captured on surveillance cameras when the car, driven by a drunk driver, drove past a pair of police cars while driving the wrong way.
A new independent report on the first assassination attempt on Donald Trump detailed the “stunning security lapses” surrounding the event at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
It detailed the “stunning security lapses” surrounding the event at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
One demonstrator was killed in the shooting and two others were injured.
Members of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate have repeatedly questioned why the Secret Service did not communicate better with local authorities during the campaign rally.
Of particular concern, a building widely believed to pose a security threat was left unsecured, allowing gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, to gain access and open fire.
Lawmakers in their report focus on “the fragmented lines of communication and unclear command structures” between the Secret Service and Pennsylvania state and local police, but lay most of the blame for the security failures on the Secret Service.
“Federal, state and local law enforcement officers could have called in Thomas Matthew Crooks at several crucial times,” the report said.
Of particular concern, a building widely believed to pose a security risk was left unsecured, allowing gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, to gain access to it. The photo shows Secret Service agents standing near the would-be killer’s body after the shooting
Crooks is pictured walking around the Trump rally before opening fire hours later, killing one attendee, seriously wounding two others and grazing the former president’s right ear
Lawmakers added that during the afternoon, “as Crooks’ behavior became increasingly suspicious, fragmented lines of communication allowed Crooks to evade law enforcement” and climb onto the unsecured roof where he would eventually begin shooting.
“Simply put, the evidence obtained by the Task Force to date shows that the tragic and shocking events of July 13 were preventable and should not have occurred,” the report continues.
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 in the Secret Service and the FBI.
The report is hardly new, as the Secret Service’s botched response has already been documented by an independent commission, a Senate interim report, as well as congressional testimony and news media investigations.
The House of Representatives report, like previous reports, does not identify specific individuals who may be guilty, but at least five Secret Service agents have been reassigned.
The task force also began investigating a second Trump assassination attempt last month, in which a man with a gun camped outside one of his golf courses in south Florida. Suspect Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, is pictured
FBI agents check the side of the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, in September after what appeared to be an attempted assassination of Donald Trump
Then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned shortly after the shooting, saying she took full responsibility for the shooting.
The task force – made up of seven Republicans and six Democrats – presented some of the report’s findings at a public hearing last month.
Lawmakers say they plan to issue a final report in mid-December, including recommendations to prevent future assassination attempts on political candidates.
The task force also began investigating a second Trump assassination attempt last month, in which Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, camped with a rifle outside one of his South Florida golf courses.
Earlier this month, fears of a third assassination attempt on Trump were raised when a man was arrested outside his rally in Coachella, California, with two firearms and a high-capacity magazine.