(Ken Silva, Headline USA) In another display of ineptitude and a lack of regard for the American people, the Secret Service is taking heat for breaking into a local business, taping over its cameras and doing God knows what else during a two-hour period ahead of a Kamala Harris fundraising event.
The event took place in Pittsfield, Massachusetts on July 27, about two weeks after Donald Trump was nearly assassinated under the Secret Service’s watch. The owner of the local business, Four One Three Salon, complained to Business Insider about the Secret Service breaking into her business without permission.
Secret Service batting a 1000 at this point.
"Secret Service agents taped over a security camera and broke into a Massachusetts hair salon while securing the area for a Kamala Harris campaign event, according to the salon's owner.
The intrusion happened on July 27, ahead of… pic.twitter.com/fX13C2lJhQ— Literally Heather (@Shouse34) August 9, 2024
“They had a bunch of people in and out of here doing a couple of bomb sweeps again — totally understand what they have to do, due to the nature of the situation,” Salon owner Alicia Powers told Business Insider. “And at that point, my team felt like it was a little bit chaotic, and we just made the decision to close for Saturday.”
After Powers left for the day, her storefront cameras captured the Secret Service breaking into her business. But then, one Secret Service agent taped over the camera by the front door.
“Two people wearing emergency medical services uniforms and one person in a camouflage law enforcement uniform walked in. The fourth person, wearing a dark suit and white shirt like a Secret Service officer, stood by the door,” Business Insider reported.
“There were several people in and out for about an hour-and-a-half — just using my bathroom, the alarms going off, using my counter, with no permission,” Powers told the publication.
An EMS worker later told Powers the Secret Service agent in charge of security that day “was telling people to come in and use the bathroom,” she said.
When Powers returned to the property later that day, she found the door’s lock looked like it had been picked, according to Business Insider. Agents had reprotedly left the business unlocked after breaking into it.
Powers said Secret Service didn’t do much damage to her business, but she was nevertheless disturned by agents’ lack of regard for her private property, she said.
“Whoever was visiting, whether it was a celebrity or not, I probably would’ve opened the door and made them coffee and brought in donuts to make it a great afternoon for them,” she told BI. “But they didn’t even have the audacity to ask for permission. They just helped themselves.”
The Secret Service initially said it “would not” let its agents do such actions as described above, but the agency reportedly admitted to wrongdoing the day after Business Insider published about the matter last Wednesday. Powers reportedly said a Secret Service representative she spoke to offered to have the salon cleaned and pay her alarm company bill for the day.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
