Secret Service ordered Dallas police to STOP screening for weapons at Obama rally

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

ecurity details at Barack Obama's rally Wednesday stopped screening people for weapons at the front gates more than an hour before the Democratic presidential candidate took the stage at Reunion Arena.

The order to put down the metal detectors and stop checking purses and laptop bags came as a surprise to several Dallas police officers who said they believed it was a lapse in security.

Dallas Deputy Police Chief T.W. Lawrence, head of the Police Department's homeland security and special operations divisions, said the order -- apparently made by the U.S. Secret Service -- was meant to speed up the long lines outside and fill the arena's vacant seats before Obama came on.

"Sure," said Lawrence, when asked if he was concerned by the great number of people who had gotten into the building without being checked. But, he added, the turnout of more than 17,000 people seemed to be a "friendly crowd."

The Secret Service did not return a call from the Star-Telegram seeking comment.

http://www.star-telegram.com/667/story/486413.html

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Interesting....

[Peikko 1,575]

Interesting enough to have a conspiracy theory attached?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

It would be peculiar if the Secret Service doesn't do that on a routine basis. I'm wondering if there's anyway to find that out?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Wonkette on this story:

On top of that deeply suspicious outrage, a Dallas police officer died while escorting a motorcade through the city this morning. The unnamed motorcycle cop crashed while riding along with Hillary Clinton’s entourage.

John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas 45 years ago this November. A Dallas policeman was allegedly killed that day by Kennedy’s alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald.

http://wonkette.com/359712/federal-officia...las-obama-rally

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Secret Service says Obama rally was secure

WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- The U.S. Secret Service Friday denied reports that security measures at a recent Barack Obama rally in Texas were relaxed or deviated from established plans.

Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren said there was no order from the Secret Service to stop screening people going to the Obama rally Wednesday at Dallas's Reunion Arena. He said that the event's security plans didn't involve having each participant pass through a magnetometer, as may be the case at other events.

...

Limited use of metal detectors "in no way constituted a security lapse at this venue," Zahren said, adding that the security measures were developed with Dallas-area law enforcement personnel.

Edited February 22, 2008 by VJ Troll

[Jaseball 0]

They could have opened the doors earlier and started to screen earlier. This is one of those 'no harm, no foul,' types of situations, but can you imagine if some whack job got some shots off into our first viable African American presidential candidate?

[no name 1]

FYI, until he is (possibly) named the Dem Pres nominee, he does not have SS detail personally. Hillary does have it tho, because of Bill.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

FYI, until he is (possibly) named the Dem Pres nominee, he does not have SS detail personally. Hillary does have it tho, because of Bill.

Secret Service Guards Obama, Taking Unusually Early Step

Senator Barack Obama, whose crowds at political rallies across the country have often numbered in the thousands, was placed under Secret Service protection yesterday, a spokesman for the agency said.

The secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, authorized the protection for Mr. Obama after consulting with a Congressional advisory committee that reviews security for presidential hopefuls. The decision to assign agents to Mr. Obama, nearly nine months before voting begins in the Democratic primaries for president, is the earliest the Secret Service has ever issued a security detail to a candidate.

A spokesman for the Secret Service, Eric Zahren, said the agency was not aware of any specific threat against Mr. Obama. Mr. Zahren declined to provide details of what had prompted the elevation of security for Mr. Obama, a first-term Democratic senator from Illinois.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democrat of New York, is the only other presidential candidate who receives Secret Service protection, Mr. Zahren said. But her security comes through her role as a former first lady.

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

FYI, until he is (possibly) named the Dem Pres nominee, he does not have SS detail personally. Hillary does have it tho, because of Bill.

Actually, Obama has been under SS protection since May of last year.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/03/oba...tion/index.html

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Right. The NY Times text above is dated May 4, 2007

Edited February 22, 2008 by VJ Troll

[no name 1]

I stand corrected. I have a SS source who had said differently.

[Ban Hammer 13,355]

I stand corrected. I have a SS source who had said differently.

dev got ss contacts

[no name 1]

I stand corrected. I have a SS source who had said differently.

dev got ss contacts

n/m

Edited February 22, 2008 by illumine