Secret Service Agent Fell Asleep at UN General Assembly

Real Clear Politics journalist reported:

A @SecretService Uniformed Division officer allegedly fell asleep on the job -- in full public view -- while providing security at the United Nations General Assembly last Thursday, multiple law enforcement sources told @RCPolitics.

The same officer, an overweight African American man, also has been accused of leaving his semi-automatic rifle (what appears to be a SR16) unattended while taking a bathroom break from his security duties, according to these sources.

New York Police Department officers witnessed and took photos of what they considered the officer’s unprofessional behavior — what they described as sleeping on the job and leaving the rifle unattended — and reported it to their superiors at the multi-agency command center, which included representatives from the Secret Service, the NYPD, and other law enforcement agencies.

A Secret Service spokesperson told@RCPolitics that the USSS Uniformed Division officer was relieved of his operational duties “immediately after leadership was notified” of the alleged unprofessional behavior, and the officer returned to Washington, D.C.

The Secret Service has placed the officer on administrative leave pending a disciplinary review and emphasized its “strict professional standards” and stated that those who violate these standards will face immediate “disciplinary action.”

@RCPolitics was unsuccessful in its efforts to reach out to the individual accused of unprofessional conduct while providing security at UNGA. The New York Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

RealClearPolitics was alerted to the Secret Service officer’s alleged unprofessional behavior just hours after @SecofWar Pete Hegseth lectured U.S. military leaders about the need to raise standards and eliminate “woke” DEI priorities in hiring and promotions.

There will be no “fat troops” or “fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon,” Hegseth said. Troops will be clean-shaven, and the military will offer few if any exemptions, either for religious or medical needs. There will be only male physical standards for combat jobs, and if that means there are no women in those roles, “it is what it is,” Hegseth said.

Hegseth’s stricter standards for the military is ratcheting up the pressure on other federal agencies to raise their own standards, including the Secret Service.

Even before the Butler assassination attempt against President Trump, the Secret Service was facing Congressional scrutiny over its DEI hiring and vetting policies during the Biden administration. Since Butler, one Secret Service agent, Rashid Ellis, has come forward publicly to blame last year’s agency failures during Butler on the Secret Service’s DEI priorities; many other agents and officers have made the same allegations to me anonymously.

It’s unclear what actions Secret Service Director Sean Curran has taken to address the DEI concerns beyond placing a number of Secret Service officials who worked on USSS DEI programs during the Biden years on administrative leave earlier this year in compliance with Trump’s anti-DEI directive. The Secret Service has not responded to repeated questions from @RCPolitics on this topic.

Full @SecretService statement to@RCPolitics:

“The U.S. Secret Service is aware of a Sept. 25 incident where a Uniformed Division officer working security near the United Nations General Assembly in New York City reportedly engaged in unprofessional behavior, including leaving a firearm unattended for a brief time in a secure zone before returning to the weapon. The officer was relieved of their operational duties immediately after leadership was notified that afternoon, returned to Washington, D.C. and subsequently placed on administrative leave pending a disciplinary review. The Secret Service has strict professional standards that all employees are expected to meet, and individuals who are found to have violated these standards will face disciplinary action.”