The US Secret Service faced embarrassment when its agents were caught on camera barging into a Massachusetts salon to relieve themselves ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris’ event. The agency had to apologise to the salon owner, who did not allow the agents to use her business or her bathroom, Fox News reports.
The incident occurred on July 27, when the Secret Service was securing the area for Harris’ first in-person fundraiser event since she became the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Alicia Powers, owner of the Four One Three salon in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, told Business Insider that Secret Service agents taped over her security cameras and broke into her building by breaking the lock.
Security footage showed a Secret Service agent putting tape over the camera and later four men entering the salon without permission. The salon’s security alarm sounded during the incident.
Powers said he closed his salon at the request of the Secret Service, which investigated the bombings earlier in the week.
“A lot of people came in here and wanted to bomb – they fully understood what they had to do because of the nature of the situation,” Powers said. “And at that point, my team felt like it was a little chaotic, and we decided to close down on Saturday.”
The owner alleged that on the day of the incident, various individuals, including people wearing emergency medical services uniforms and state police uniforms, entered the salon to use the bathroom without permission.
“There were multiple people coming in and out for about an hour and a half — they were just using my bathroom, the alarm was going off, they were using my counter, and all without anybody’s permission,” he said.
Power further alleged that the agents and others left the building unlocked after they left and did not remove the tape from the cameras.
The building’s landlord, Brian Smith, also confirmed that no one had given Secret Service agents permission to enter the premises.
The Secret Service acknowledged the incident and apologized to Powers. A spokesman said agency employees “would never enter” a business without the owner’s permission. However, the agency did not deny that an agent had put tape over the lens of a security camera.
Powers receives an apology from the Secret Service’s Boston office, but remains upset at the lack of respect for his profession.
“Anyone who came to visit, whether they were a celebrity or not, I would probably open the door and make them coffee and bring them doughnuts so they could have a great afternoon,” she said. “But they didn’t even have the courage to ask permission. They just kept eating on their own.”
tune in