The reports that an armed man approached former President Barack Obama outside a restaurant in Los Angeles on Saturday and that the former president’s security detail failed to stop him have compelled the Secret Service to address the matter.
The unidentified security guard, who requested to remain nameless, told TMZ that at approximately 7:30 p.m., he approached an SUV outside the Mother Wolf restaurant in Los Angeles.
He claimed to have discovered federal investigators outside while working at a bar mitzvah above the restaurant that evening.
“Wanting to check what was going on, the man said he left the venue and saw two agents in an alleyway to his right, while a black SUV with Department of Homeland Security plates was to his left. Assuming there was a dignitary inside the vehicle, and after snapping a photo of it, the man said he decided to approach the SUV, but was startled to see the former president sat in the backseat using a laptop,” The Independent reported.
“Being armed at the time, the man said he feared Obama’s security detail would consider him a threat, and so quickly backed away and greeted the two men in the alleyway. He said he learned that the two men were Secret Service agents, adding that they seemed surprised to see him. About 30 minutes later, he said his boss asked him to hand over his credentials and license to carry a concealed weapon for the Secret Service to check,” the outlet added.
The security guard described the alleged incident as “definitely a security lapse on their part that there was no one on the backside of SUV, nor covering the stairwell.” He claimed he could have easily tried to open the car door, saying the agents in the alleyway were “obviously embarrassed by the situation.”
Following the claims, the Secret Service denied the man’s version of events, calling it “inaccurate.”
“The Secret Service cannot provide the details on our means and methods of protection,” a Secret Service spokesperson emailed Newsweek on Wednesday.
“But we can confirm that at no time were any Secret Service protectees in the vehicle while the individual was walking down the alleyway,” they added. “These claims are inaccurate.”
The statement added that the guard took the photo “upon departure and not during the alleged incident.”
The report comes at a time when the Secret Service is facing heavy scrutiny, following two assassination attempts on Donald Trump.
Former First Lady Melania Trump talked candidly about the moments she discovered her husband, former President Donald Trump, had been the target of two assassination attempts.
In an interview with “Fox & Friends,” Melania Trump discussed the incidents that rocked her life in detail. The first assassination attempt happened in Butler, Pennsylvania, at a rally in mid-July. Melania Trump described the bizarre experience of witnessing it happen a few minutes after it did, rather than in real-time.
“I ran to the TV and I [rewound] it and I watched it,” she revealed.
She added, “When you see him on the floor, and you don’t know what really happened.”
Thomas Matthew Crooks, the would-be assassin, set up shop on a rooftop some 130 yards from the event and opened fire on the former president multiple times. A countersniper shot and killed Crooks, but not before the bullets gave Trump a minor cut to his ear.
Two rallygoers, David Dutch and James Copenhaven, were hurt, while Corey Comperatore, a former Pennsylvania fire chief, lost his life.
The previous First Lady referred to the two attempted assassinations as “miracles.”
On September 15, when he was playing golf at his West Palm Beach club, Trump was the target of his second attempted murder. Melania Trump found out about the incident—again via television—while she was in New York.
“As soon as I saw it on television, I called again, and he was OK because Secret Service were great,” she said. “The guys that they were, the team, they were fantastic. And I think both of the events, they were really miracles. If you really think about it, July 13 was a miracle. How… like that much, and he could, you know, he could not be with us.”
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Author: Martin Walsh
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