The US intelligence service said so Newsweek which reports a “security lapse” in the former president Barack Obamathe weekend security details are “incorrect”.
TMZ reported Wednesday that its reporters spoke with an armed security guard working an event above a restaurant the former president visited in Los Angeles on Saturday night. The guard, who remained unnamed, said he approached the SUV carrying Obama without being stopped by Secret Security agents. He reported that two agents were standing away from the vehicle in an alley as he approached the former president’s conveyance.
The guard said he saw Obama in the back of the vehicle with a laptop, according to the report TMZ Report.
He told the news agency that the incident appeared to be “a security lapse” by the Secret Service because “there was no one in the back of the SUV.” The guard also shared a photo with the outlet that he said was taken when he first approached the vehicle.
A spokesperson for the Secret Service said Newsweek by email, but that the report was incorrect.
“The Secret Service cannot provide details about our means and methods of protection, but we can confirm that at no time were Secret Service protectees in the vehicle while the individual was walking down the alley,” the spokesperson said Wednesday. “These claims are false.”
The Secret Service spokesman added that “the photo in question was at the time of departure and not during the alleged incident.”
This is a developing story that will be updated as information becomes available.
Photo by KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images