Secret Service reportedly apologized to salon owner for breaking into business

By 
 August 12, 2024

A salon owner in Massachusetts received an apology from the U.S. Secret Service after she claimed they broke into the salon by picking the lock before placing tape over the security cameras, and allowing people to use its restroom.

The situation reportedly happened during a fundraising event for Vice President Kamala Harris.

According to the New York Post, the agency apologized to Berkshires businesswoman Alicia Powers for essentially taking over her shop in a very sloppy manner and with no forewarning of their plans.

The apology was barely one at all, as the agency insisted that none of their agents would make such a move, but admitted that security footage proved otherwise.

What happened?

As the agency deals with a string of extremely embarrassing headlines in the wake of the near death of former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally last month, another round of negative headlines was the last thing it needed.

Powers described what she witnessed on her security camera footage.

The people who proceeded to use the bathroom included a pair in emergency medical uniforms, a person in camouflage law-enforcement gear and someone in a dark suit and white shirt similar to a Secret Service officer who guarded the door, Powers said, citing footage.

She also reported that the head of the agency's Boston office called her and apologized.

"He said to me everything that was done was done very wrong," Powers told Business Insider. "They were not supposed to tape my camera without permission. They were not supposed to enter the building without permission."

The Secret Service issued a statement in the wake of the report, which had gone viral across social media and several news networks.

"The Secret Service has since communicated with the affected business owner. 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," a SS rep said.

Understanding, but shocked

Powers said that she knew some security precautions would have to be taken given her salon's proximity to the Harris fundraising event, but she said she had no idea it would be done in such a haphazard way.

"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," Powers said.

She added, "And at that point, my team felt like it was a little bit chaotic, and we just made the decision to close for Saturday."

Upon leaving the scene and after they used her bathrooms without permission, the agency reportedly left her business unlocked and left the tape over the security camera. Very sloppy and unprofessional, to say the least.

" A free people [claim] their rights, as derived from the laws of nature."
Thomas Jefferson