Secret Service apologizes for picking lock and breaking into local salon after covering up security camera

The secret services have apologized to a Massachusetts salon owner after his security camera showed individuals break into his business to use the toilet while he was on assignment for a fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris nearby.

Alicia Powers, owner of Berkshires Salon, says someone picked his lock and broke into his store to use the restroom after a secret service agent covered a camera with duct tape.

Those who use the toilet Among them were a couple in emergency medical uniforms, while a person in a camouflage police uniform and another in a dark suit with a white shirt could be seen guarding the door.

The US Secret Service has apologized to the owner of a Massachusetts hair salon after an agent covered his security camera with duct tape and broke into his salon, picking the lock so his bathroom could be used by different people over a two-hour period.

After the two-hour period,… pic.twitter.com/s4qSFtebn0

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) August 11, 2024

According to the The New York Post:

A Secret Service official was adamant that agents would not enter buildings like that — but did not deny that an officer had covered his camera with duct tapean act that was captured on surveillance footage, and which appears to have been the subject of a sort of mea culpa in a statement.

“The Secret Service has since contacted the owner of the company in question.“We value these relationships highly and our staff would not enter, or ask our partners to enter, a business without the owner’s permission,” spokeswoman Melissa McKenzie said.

According to Business InsiderThe head of the local Secret Service office based in Boston called the salon owner to apologize.

“He told me that everything that was done was very poorly done,” Powers said. “They weren’t supposed to be filming my camera without permission. They weren’t supposed to be going into the building without permission.”

According to Powers, the incident took place on July 27, before Harris’ first major in-person fundraiser since President Biden announced he was dropping out of the race. The living room is behind the Colonial Theatre, where Harris’ event was held. She added that His salon was closed before the fundraiser due to the chaotic presence of security forces.

“They sent a group of people here and there to do some bomb sweeps. We fully understand what they have to do, because of the nature of the situation,” she said. Insider“And at that point, my team felt it was a little chaotic, and we just made the decision to close for Saturday.”

After the tape was placed on the cameraIts interior cameras detected four other people over a 90-minute period.

“I had multiple people come in and out for about an hour and a half, just using my bathroom, alarms going off, using my counter, without permission,” she told the outlet. “And then when they were done using the bathroom for two hours, they left and left my building completely unlocked and didn’t remove the camera tape.”

“No matter who came to visit me, celebrity or not, I probably would have opened the door and made them coffee and doughnuts to make them have a great afternoon,” she said. “But they didn’t even have the audacity to ask permission. They just helped themselves.”