It looks like Biden is going to get special treatment. They may feel sorry for Biden's wife having to defend him.
Secret Service changing Biden protection plans after rally scare
By Jeff Zeleny, David Shortell and Noah Gray, CNN
Updated 7:14 PM ET, Thu March 5, 2020
CNN)The Secret Service is working through plans to provide protection to presidential candidates after protesters stormed the stage of former Vice President Joe Biden's victory rally in Los Angeles late Tuesday in a harrowing scene.
None of the Democratic presidential candidates have requested protection from the Secret Service as of Thursday evening, but officials are ready to dispatch when they're called in, the agency said.
In a statement, Secret Service Director of Communications Cathy Milhoan said that the agency's preparations for candidate protection began in January 2017, and that Secret Service leadership identified thousands of agents, Uniformed Division Officers and administrative support staff in March 2019 who would support the mission.
A Secret Service official said on Wednesday that the agency is reconsidering the timetable for rolling out campaign bodyguards after the Los Angeles incident, which saw Biden's wife, a private security guard and several senior campaign staffers rush in to defend the candidate.
Also on Wednesday, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee urged Chad Wolf, the acting Homeland Security secretary, and four congressional leaders who compose the Candidate Protection Advisory Committee to begin considering dispatching the Secret Service protection, citing the protesters Tuesday night.
"As the process for nominating the Democratic candidate for President of the United States continues to advance, Americans deserve to know that the major candidates for President are protected from all threats to their safety," Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, wrote in a letter.
Presidential candidates historically receive Secret Service details during the primary season as their crowd sizes and the possibility of threats swells. A candidate must typically ask for the protection to initiate an approval process that includes sign-off from congressional leaders and the Homeland Security chief, although federal guidelines allow the process to begin absent a candidate's request.
In an interview with NBC News Thursday morning, Biden said "it's becoming increasingly" clear that protection will be necessary. "I think that that's something that has to be considered the more outrageous it becomes," he said.
Before the Los Angeles encounter, the Secret Service had been setting staff assignments as it prepared to roll out protection for the Democratic candidates by mid-March, when the agency predicted the field would be narrowed to two, according to the agency official. But that process will likely now be sped up, two officials familiar with the process say. |
