Secret Service agents protecting Biden’s granddaughter open fire when 3 people try to break into SUV
Secret Service agents protecting Biden’s granddaughter open fire when 3 people try to break into SUV
Secret Service agents protecting President Joe Biden’s granddaughter have opened fire after three people tried to break into an unmarked Secret Service vehicle in Washington.
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Area has an increase of car jackings, according to the article, so it was probably some unlucky thieves breaking into the unoccupied SUV.
I kind of think the bigger story is, why were Secret Service shooting at suspects trying to enter an empty vehicle? Unless there were firearms in the vehicle, feels a bit excessive to potentially kill 1 to 4 people over a car break in where no one’s life was in direct danger.
Maybe there’s more missing details that clear up the story so we’d have to wait and see.
I kind of think the bigger story is, why were Secret Service shooting at suspects trying to enter an empty vehicle?
My thoughts, from a layman. I could be totally off base here.
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A secret service vehicle is likely armed and armored to the teeth, and the last thing anyone wants is 3 idiots cruisng around town in the equivalent of a soccer mom's tank. Also, it's probably bad enough that they have egg on their face from shooting at the suspect and missing; can you imagine the embarrassment of 3 secret service agents allowing one of their vehicles to be stolen by a group of randoms? There's also the fact that if they were successful, it would be a national security issue at the very least.
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It's very likely that the windows are heavily tinted in order to make it impossible to see who or what is in the car, and the agents are likely trained to treat any attempt at breaking into or damaging the car as if the person under protection is inside of it, whether or not they actually are. Had the secret service not acted this way and this was actually a targeted attack, the bad actors would then know that the Secret Service doesn't respond the same way when the vehicle is empty, which is information that could be used in future attacks.
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There is also the possibility that there's more to the story than we're being informed about, such as the possibility of a credible threat against Biden's granddaughter. If that's the case, those are details that we'll likely never, ever know about.
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There is a chance that documents regarding schedules and other sensitive matters may be in the vehicle. A security leak of that nature could be life threatening to a bigger target. Alternatively, being stranded would leave Naomi vulnerable to kidnapping and assault.
Not saying the shooting was an appropriate response given the location, but the agents are right to be aggravated given the line of work and stakes involved.
Something I haven't seen yet is there's the possibility (in the split second decision making, not hindsight) that they were attempting to sabotage the vehicle in some way. That vehicle would be their primary escape and disabling or trapping it could be the prelude to an attack or kidnapping attempt.