Obama’s protectors are in hot water. Again.
The Secret Service failed to follow standard operating procedure during President Barack Obama’s recent visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta after an armed contractor with a crime record was allowed to ride the same elevator.
The Washington Post revealed that Obama’s security was breached during his visit at CDC on September 16 to discuss the U.S.’ response to the West Africa Ebola outbreak.
The security contractor aroused agents’ suspicions with his strange actions and kept on taking videos of the president using his cellphone camera.
When they reached the floor, Obama immediately left with his escorts, leaving a few security behind. The agents then confronted the man, and using a national database check, they found he had criminal record. When a CDC personnel approached and found out about the agents’ concern, the contractor was sacked on the spot.
He turned over his gun, surprising the agents, who only realized then that he was armed during his brief encounter with Obama.
Under the Secret Service protocol, persons with weapons or criminal record are not allowed to go near the president.
The agency did not confirm to The Post if or when was Obama informed that his security was breached.
This is the second major breach to Obama’s security within two weeks, further dipping the Secret Service and its chief, Julia Pierson, into hot water. The first was the White House intrusion of the knife-wielding Omar Gonzalez and telling the public that he was immediately apprehended upon entering the North Portico doors, when in fact he was able to reach the other wing of the president’s residence.
Several lawmakers have expressed outrage against the agency’s lapses and urged Pierson to resign, Politico reported.
“I’m not sure her ability to lead this department is effective anymore,” said Rep. Doug Collins (R.-Ga.).
He said he was also “appalled by her answers.”
“How can the director of the Secret Service approve a statement that was a lie?”
