MOSCOW, October 1 (RIA Novosti) - US Secret Service allowed an armed security contractor with a criminal history to ride an elevator with US President Barack Obama at a hotel in Atlanta on September 16, in violation of security protocols, Washington Post reports citing anonymous sources familiar with the incident.
The man, who apparently didn’t undergo screening, tried to take pictures and record a video of the US president while in the elevator. Secret Service agents ordered him to stop. They questioned the man after the president left and ran him through a database showing he had three convictions for assault and battery. It was also revealed that the private contractor worked at the hotel for years often escorting VIPs, according to Bloomberg.
Secret Service must do background checks on anyone, who gets near the president, when he attends events outside the White House, under what is known as the Arm’s Reach Program. People, who have criminal record, mental illness or are considered to be a risk, are barred from participating in such events or get close to the president. These rules do not apply to police and federal officers thought to meet the required safety standards. However, private contractors have to be screened.
“You have a convicted felon within arm’s reach of the president, and they never did a background check,” said US Congressman Jason Chaffetz, as quoted by Fox News. “Words aren’t strong enough for the outrage I feel for the safety of the president and his family.”
An investigation of the incident is underway.
The incident is the latest in a string of embarrassing security lapses plaguing the law enforcement agency. Three days after the Atlanta episode, a man armed with a knife managed to get into the White House after scaling a fence and sprinting more than 70 yards across the North Lawn. The building was partially evacuated. Barack Obama and his family were not in the residence at the moment of the September 19 incident.
US Secret Service Director Julia Pierson took full responsibility for the incident promising she will “make sure that it does not happen again” during a congressional hearing on Tuesday. However, Congressmen on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, who questioned her, remained unconvinced.
