A suspected drunk driver nearly collided with Vice-President Kamala Harris’s motorcade Monday evening in Milwaukee after driving the wrong way on a highway.
Such is the case in the arrest report by local media, which stated that the driver was a man who had reached the age of 55 and was found with an open can of beer inside his vehicle. He later accepted being pulled over by the police that led to the field sobriety test where he was subsequently arrested for driving under influence.
Vice-President Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, was campaigning in Wisconsin with former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney in Brookfield when the shooting occurred. That was shortly after 8:30 PM local time, 01:30 GMT, when the motorcade was making its way down Interstate 94. The suspect’s SUV was traveling westbound in the eastbound lane, according to a report by the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office.
As he approached the motorcade, officials managed to stop his vehicle. According to arrest reports obtained by WISN, he allegedly gasped when told he had come close to hitting a vehicle in the vice-president’s motorcade. He said he didn’t even remember getting on the highway and had no intention of doing harm to Vice-President Harris or anyone connected to her campaign.
The driver of the vehicle failed several field sobriety tests and was subsequently arrested. Miraculously, there were no injuries in the accident.
A US Secret Service spokesperson in a statement said that the agency was “aware of the incident involving a motorist traveling in the opposite direction on the highway while Vice-President was in her motorcade. The spokesperson further added, “We are thankful to Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office for its rapid response that let them stop the motorist and arrest the driver for DUI.”
As of this moment, the Harris campaign has not commented on the situation.
This is the latest in a series of security concerns as the Secret Service struggles with a “heightened threat environment” ahead of the November 5 election, said Acting Director Ronald Rowe.
In a follow-up incident in September, multiple vans carrying members of the press with Harris running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz were one of the vehicles that crashed in the Milwaukee area. Cars following from behind struck the vehicle carrying the members of the press, injuring some of them and reporters complain of being “violently thrown forward.” This accident has thrown more light on the challenging task security agencies face while ensuring security for such high-profile candidates during this charged election season.
