The U.S. Secret Service reportedly apologized to a Massachusetts hair salon owner after agents duct-tapped security cameras and broke into her business while on duty at a nearby fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential bid.
Four One Three Salon owner Alicia Powers told Business Insider that U.S. Secret Service apologized after she said agents left her building unlocked for two hours and facilitated several people using its bathroom without her permission.
Ring security camera footage timestamped at 8:12 a.m. shows one apparent Secret Service agent, dressed in a black suit with a white top, walk up on the porch of the salon. The agent pulled over and stood on a chair to cover the recording camera with duct tape.
Additional surveillance footage from 2:44 p.m. and 2:51 p.m. shows two people dressed in emergency medical uniforms, a person in camouflage law-enforcement gear and another individual in a dark suit and white shirt break into Powers’ salon to use its bathroom. An emergency alarm can be heard going off as the door was wide open, video shows.
NEW: Kamala Harris’ Secret Service team forced to issue an apology after they broke into a salon in Massachusetts while Harris was at a fundraiser nearby.
A female agent was seen duct-taping a camera outside the business while agents picked the lock.
Once inside, the agents… pic.twitter.com/usaFIjK9vS
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 11, 2024
Powers said she felt “violated” after the incident, according to the outlet. The salon owner said the door’s lock on the building, which she shares ownership of with her dad, appeared to be picked when she returned the next day.
“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,” Powers told the outlet. “But they didn’t even have the audacity to ask for permission. They just helped themselves.”
An agency spokesperson later told the outlet that Secret Service had “since communicated” with Powers, the outlet reported. However, they denied entering without her permission, stating that the agency would never do so. (RELATED: Secret Service Is Somehow More Incompetent Than Liberal Media)
Secret Service did not deny obscuring her security cameras, according to the outlet.
The head of the Secret Service Boston field office reportedly called Powers to apologize on Aug. 1, Business Insider reported. The salon owner said the representative she spoke to offered to clean up, pay her alarm company bill, and offered to visit for coffee and an in-person apology.
“He said to me everything that was done was done very wrong,” Powers told the outlet. “They were not supposed to tape my camera without permission. They were not supposed to enter the building without permission.”
Powers’ salon — closed during the event per the request of Secret Service — is located behind the Colonial Theatre, the venue where Harris held her first fundraiser since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee.
The Daily Caller reached out to the U.S. Secret Service for comment but has not heard back.
