The U.S. Secret Service has suggested it was not involved in the break-in at a hair salon during Kamala Harris’ campaign event in Massachusetts late last month.
The allegations of Secret Service involvement came to light after salon owner Alicia Powers alleged that the Secret Service duct-taped her security camera and picked the lock to get into the building.
Secret Service agents are on guard. (Associated Press)
Security camera footage shows a person dressed like a Secret Service agent approach the door with a roll of tape, observe the locked door and camera, then grab onto a nearby chair and place tape over the camera.
“The U.S. Secret Service works closely with our partners in the business community to carry out our protective and investigative mission,” USSS spokeswoman Melissa McKenzie said in a statement.
McKenzie said the Secret Service has been in contact with Powers since the July 27 incident.
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“We value these relationships highly and our employees will not enter or instruct partners to enter business premises without the owner’s permission,” MacKenzie said, without specifying who was responsible.
Powers said. Business Insider “Several people” had “just been using my bathroom, setting off the alarm, and using the counter without permission for about an hour and a half,” he said.
“Then after they finished using the bathroom for two hours, they left, they left my building without locking it up, they didn’t even remove the tape over my camera,” she added.
The salon is located near the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where Vice President Kamala Harris gave a campaign fundraiser on July 27, 2024. (Stephanie Scarborough/Getty Images)
Powers later said that Business Insider had reached out to the USSS for comment about the incident and had heard back from a USSS representative.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Powers for his reaction to the Secret Service’s latest comments.
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The incident came less than a month after the attempted assassination of former President Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The shooting has brought increased scrutiny to the Secret Service, which is ultimately responsible for coordinating security with local law enforcement.
Following the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024, former President Trump was hurriedly removed from the stage. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The investigation became more intense when it was revealed that investigators had observed the shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, more than an hour before the shooting and had identified him as a suspicious person, but that he had gone missing.
Crooks climbed to the roof of a building owned by AGR International, a supplier of automated equipment to the glass and plastic packaging industries, and fired an estimated eight shots from an AR-15-style rifle.
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Amid mounting pressure, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned after fiery testimony before the House Oversight Committee.
Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
