Authorities said a U.S. Secret Service agent assigned to Vice President Kamala Harris had to be hospitalized after he displayed “distressing behavior” at Joint Base Andrews on Monday morning.
According to CBS News, the U.S. Secret Service in a statement said that the agent “began displaying behavior their colleagues found distressing. The agent was removed from their assignment while medical personnel were summoned.” Harris, however, wasn’t at the airbase at the time of the incident.
Sources who spoke with the news outlet also said that the agent’s words were gibberish and incoherent, adding that the agent physically provoked a fellow officer. The USSS said the Vice President was at the Naval Observatory when the incident occurred, adding that what happened did not cause any “impact on her departure from Joint Base Andrews.” Sources also said the agent displayed the said behavior about an hour before Harris got to the airbase to catch a flight to Wisconsin.
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Sources said other Secret Service agents handcuffed and detained the agent in question. Authorities also called ambulances to the airbase, CBS News reported.
The agent in question was hospitalized after undergoing a medical evaluation, per the sources. There were also no signs of substance use when the statement about the incident was released.
Authorities will decide whether or not the agent is fit to resume duty after the agent is given additional medical attention and undergoes another assessment. Sources said the USSS will also initiate an internal review and determine whether it’ll withdraw the agent’s top secret security clearance for medical or disciplinary reasons.
The sources further told the news outlet that the matter is currently being handled as a medical case – not a disciplinary one. The sources said this is because of the obvious mental health issues the agent showed.
