A man pretending to be a Secret Service agent was seen at a campaign rally in Detroit on Aug. 7 for former President Donald Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance. The man was seen wearing a Secret Service patch on an armored vest issued by another federal agency.
RealClearInvestigations reporter Susan Crabtree showed the photo to the Secret Service, and they confirmed the man was improperly wearing a Secret Service patch.
"The U.S. Secret Service became aware of a photo where a member of another law enforcement agency is improperly wearing a Secret Service patch," reported Crabtree, who revealed the man in the photo was actually a member of the Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations unit.
Crabtree added that an HSI special agent or officer "mainly specializes in investigating transnational crime and violations of the customs and immigration laws of the United States," and it would be very peculiar for an HSI agent to be working at a campaign event.
"HSI, TSA [Transportation Security Administration] and other federal law enforcement agencies have historically and are continuing to assist the Secret Service with tasks such as magnetometer screening and other 'non-discretionary' assignments to help ensure the security of presidential, vice presidential candidates granted USSS [United States Secret Service] protection, the agency told me," Crabtree stated.
The Secret Service also said in a statement that "no external agencies serve in direct protective or organizational capacities for the U.S. Secret Service."
The incident is considered a major security risk, particularly after the failures of Secret Service and other federal law enforcement agencies that eventually led to the assassination attempt against Trump. (Related: Secret Service director Kim Cheatle RESIGNS after sparring with Congress over security failures at Trump rally.)
"There's a massive security risk because if all someone has to do is make a fake Secret Service patch and throw it on themselves and walk around the site, how are normal Secret Service [agents] supposed to be able to tell who is who?" a source in the Secret Service community told Crabtree.
Much worse is the fact that non-Secret Service agents are not appropriately trained to inspect bags at entry points at events and somebody is granting them authority to enter Secret Service-only locations.
Secret Service admits breaking protocol by providing patches to other agencies
Already embroiled with controversy since the Trump rally shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania more than a month ago, the Secret Service broke protocol once more and acknowledged it never should have happened.
"Secret Service providing patches to other agencies is not standard practice. It's definitely against agency protocol," a source informed about the issue told the Daily Mail.
Additionally, a Secret Service spokesperson disclosed to the Daily Mail that "corrective action" has already been passed and fresh policy changes have been enforced to prevent a comparable fiasco in the future.
The problem arrives at a politically sensitive moment for the agency, following the Butler, Pennsylvania tragedy and the abrupt resignation of former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.
Watch the video below about Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe testifying on the security failures in the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.
This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.
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