Secret Service issues apology for breaking into salon and using toilet before Kamala Harris' fundraiser

WASHINGTON, DC: The US Secret Service issued an apology to a Massachusetts salon owner for using her building's toilet without her permission just before a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris last week.

The Secret Service has been under scrutiny after an attack on former president Donald Trump in July, where the Secret Service snipers were late to react.

Secret Service issues apology to salon owner

Salon owner Alicia Powers said that the Secret Service agents put duct tape over her security cameras and entered her building by picking the lock. They then allowed many people to use the salon's bathroom for over two hours, reported Business Insider.

She said, "They had a bunch of people in and out of here doing a couple of bomb sweeps again – totally understand what they have to do, due to the nature of the situation. At that point, my team felt like it was a little bit chaotic, and we just made the decision to close for Saturday."

The viral footage from the salon's front-door security camera showed a Secret Service agent approaching the door with a roll of tape and observing the locked door and the camera. He then grabbed a nearby chair and stood on it to tape the camera.

Powers added, "There were several people in and out for about an hour-and-a-half – just using my bathroom, the alarms going off, using my counter, with no permission. Then when they were done using the bathroom for two hours, they left, and left my building completely unlocked, and did not take the tape off the camera."

She added that she received an apology from the Secret Service's Boston office. 

USSS spokeswoman Melissa McKenzie told Fox News, "The US Secret Service works closely with our partners in the business community to carry out our protective and investigative missions. The Secret Service has since communicated with the affected business owner."

McKenzie added, "We hold these relationships in the highest regard and our personnel would not enter, or instruct our partners to enter, a business without the owner’s permission."

Powers also told Business Insider, "Whoever was visiting, whether it was a celebrity or not, I probably would've opened the door and made them coffee and brought in donuts to make it a great afternoon for them. But they didn't even have the audacity to ask for permission. They just helped themselves."

Secret Service slammed for breaking into salon

Many people on the internet slammed the Secret Service for breaking into a salon and using the toilet without the owner's permission just before a fundraiser for Kamala Harris.

People took to the comments section of a Daily Mail article and slammed the Secret Service agents.

One comment read, "It should be standard advance recon that they ensure there are facilities for them to use, and pay any necessary fees to cover clean up costs, etc. The Secret Service has become a disgrace."

Another comment read, "I do know for a fact that the Secret Service is often assigned to locations to work long shifts without bathrooms or refreshments available, but all they had to do was politely ask."

One person commented, "They are guilty of breaking and entering. Will they be fired? Will the supervisor be fired? Will they be charged with BE? Everyone knows they won’t be. Just another government entity out of control."

Another asked, "Why weren’t logistics arranged in advance such as portable bathrooms and coolers full of water?"

One person stated, "Good luck filing suits against The Secret Service. The agents that pulled this stunt will never be identified or prosecuted for such behavior since it was for the benefit of Kamala Harris."

Another individual wrote, "They were being neighborly and as Walz says - What’s socialism to some is neighborliness to others. Stop voting for people who treat us this way."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.