A suspected drunk driver narrowly missed Vice President Kamala Harris’ motorcade while traveling the wrong way on a highway in Milwaukee this week.
Footage from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation obtained by Newsweek shows a white SUV approaching Harris’ motorcade at about 8:30 p.m. Monday while headed westbound in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 94 at the Marquette Interchange.
The driver of the SUV, a 55-year-old man who wasn’t immediately identified, travels past the motorcade at a slow speed before being stopped by deputies from the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office at the end of the procession, the footage shows.
Deputies found an “open intoxicant” inside in the vehicle, sheriff spokesperson James Burnett told Newsweek early Wednesday.
Wisconsin DOT
No injuries were reported during the incident, which followed a busy day of campaigning for Harris in Waukesha County, as well as rallies in Pennsylvania and Michigan.
The driver of the SUV was taken into custody on suspicion of operating while intoxicated and recklessly endangering safety following field sobriety tests, Burnett said.
The man told a deputy he “had recollection of entering the freeway or coming close to striking another vehicle,” according to an arrest report obtained by WISN. He also said he had no intention to harm Harris or anyone connected to her campaign, the report stated.
The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office referred inquiries regarding Harris’ motorcade to the Secret Service, which confirmed the incident involving the wrong-way driver occurred while Harris was inside the procession of vehicles.
“We are grateful to the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office for its response which allowed them to stop the motorist and take the driver into custody for DUI,” Secret Service spokesman Joe Routh said in a statement.
A message seeking comment from Harris’ campaign was not immediately returned.
Monday’s incident marks the latest public security breach in the 2024 presidential campaign, including the near assassination of former President Trump during a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
SAUL LOEB/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
A 53-page report released Monday by the bipartisan House task force investigating the “stunning security failures” on July 13 concluded a lack of a planning and coordination between the Secret Service and the agency’s law enforcement partners prior to 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks firing eight shots at the rally stage, killing one attendee and injuring three others, including Trump.
Crooks, who had been perched on a rooftop of a nearby building, died from a single gunshot wound to the head fired by a Secret Service counter sniper.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
“Put simply, the evidence obtained by the Task Force to date shows the tragic and
shocking events of July 13 were preventable and should not have happened,” the House report reads.
An independent panel probing the attempted assassination also released a report last week criticizing the Secret Service for poor communication and inadequate security on July 13 while recommending a complete overhaul of leadership.
