# The Secret Service Makes Me Nervous **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 27, 2026, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-makes-me-nervous/1028830 "2026-03-27T23:18:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-makes-me-nervous/1028830/1 "2026-03-27T23:18:30Z")
Today: [Secret Service agent assigned to Jill Biden accidentally shoots himself in leg at airport](https://apnews.com/article/jill-biden-secret-service-agent-injured-d5fa0cc9ec8959a0936c789f28f4199e) 2024: [Secret Service uniformed officer accidentally shoots himself while on duty](https://www.fox26houston.com/news/secret-service-uniformed-officer-accidentally-shoots-himself-while-duty?utm_source=chatgpt.com) 2017: [Secret Service officer injured after accidentally firing weapon](https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2017/07/25/Secret-Service-officer-injured-after-accidentally-firing-weapon/8341501024511/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) What I do not see strong evidence for is a Secret Service gun discharge ever preventing a protectee from being shot. Thanks to Irving Berlin for the thread title: [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwKEHElLWlo) P.S. I suspect this thread will be used infrequently but repeatedly. It would also be a good place to note when Secret Service staff are thrown out of foreign countries for misbehavior: 2014: [Secret Service Agents Recalled](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/03/26/294805521/secret-service-agents-recalled-from-overseas-for-drinking) > [@](#): > > The latest involves reports of three agents being recalled from the Netherlands for a night of drinking ahead of President Obama’s arrival there this week for a two-day summit. > > This follows the dismissal nearly two years ago of three agents accused of [cavorting with prostitutes](http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/04/18/150909986/3-secret-service-agents-will-leave-agency-over-prostitution-scandal) in Cartagena, Colombia, and allegations of [similar behavior in March 2011](http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/04/26/151437652/new-allegations-surface-of-secret-service-misbehavior-in-el-salvador) during the president’s visit to El Salvador. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-makes-me-nervous/1028830/2 "2026-03-27T23:56:43Z")
Better themselves than civilians. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2026, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-makes-me-nervous/1028830/3 "2026-03-28T00:01:55Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > What I do not see strong evidence for is a Secret Service gun discharge ever preventing a protectee from being shot. The obvious example would be the guy who tried to assassinate Trump in Pennsylvania. If he hadn’t been shot, he’d have kept on shooting. And even with as bad a shot as he was, eventually he’d have gotten lucky. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2026, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-makes-me-nervous/1028830/4 "2026-03-28T00:48:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > > [@PhillyGuy](#): > > > > What I do not see strong evidence for is a Secret Service gun discharge ever preventing a protectee from being shot. > > The obvious example would be the guy who tried to assassinate Trump in Pennsylvania. Trump got down, and was well-protected by a combination of the podium and staff, right away (1 second?) after being shot, only coming up for his triumphant photo op once he was sure the shooter was no longer a danger, about a minute later I will give you that the Secret Service, and people in the crowd, would have been in additional danger if no one on the government side was armed. Maybe Crooks would have tried to get away, but he did shoot into the crowd after shooting Trump. Having all Secret Service bodyguards armed is low reward for high risk, as seen in Philadelphia today. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2026, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-makes-me-nervous/1028830/5 "2026-03-28T02:21:59Z")
This one does not involve a Secret Service employee, but it sounds like, if the news reports are correct, the shooter must have been working with the SS. A Biden administration “pre-event site security advisor” accidentally shot and killed his girlfriend this past Tuesday: [Ex-White House staffer accidentally shot SFSU grad while handling a gun](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ex-white-house-staffer-charged-194958537.html) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2026, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-makes-me-nervous/1028830/6 "2026-03-28T17:43:50Z")
Teddy Roosevelt, of course. beat the snot out of a would be assassin himself. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2026, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-makes-me-nervous/1028830/7 "2026-03-29T00:34:44Z")
carnivorousplant, thank you for your last post. I’ve borrowed Theodore Roosevelt and the Assassin by Gerard Helferich, from the public library, put it on my Kindle, and started reading. It’s looks good. However, as I just put in another thread, on being shot, Teddy quickly asked his bodyguards to NOT hurt the assassin. And AFAIK (not far in the book yet) the bodyguards, and local police, obeyed. Back then, a former president, like Teddy, was not under Secret Service protection. If SS had been there, who knows what they would have done. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2026, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-makes-me-nervous/1028830/8 "2026-03-29T00:54:00Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Teddy Roosevelt, of course. beat the snot out of a would be assassin himself. You may be thinking of Andrew Jackson ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2026, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-makes-me-nervous/1028830/9 "2026-03-29T00:55:42Z")
As did Andrew Jackson. Richard Laurence rushed him and fired two pistols at Jackson. They both misfired. Jackson started beating the would-be assassin with Jackson’s cane. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2026, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-makes-me-nervous/1028830/10 "2026-03-29T01:01:46Z")
Mr. President (1962) [The Secret Service Makes Me Nervous](https://youtu.be/7XVJngtkKXQb) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2026, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-makes-me-nervous/1028830/11 "2026-03-29T01:42:53Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > What I do not see strong evidence for is a Secret Service gun discharge ever preventing a protectee from being shot. [When two Puerto Ricans attempted to attack President Truman in 1950](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/truman-assassination-attempt), Secret Service agents and White House police stopped them at the front door. The exchange of gunfire resulted in one of the attackers and one White House officer dead, and another officer and the other attacker wounded. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2026, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-makes-me-nervous/1028830/12 "2026-03-29T02:30:14Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > > [@PhillyGuy](#): > > > > What I do not see strong evidence for is a Secret Service gun discharge ever preventing a protectee from being shot. > > When two Puerto Ricans attempted to attack President Truman in 1950 Fair enough. It is hard to see having fewer armed police at Blair House working well in that incident. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2026, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-makes-me-nervous/1028830/13 "2026-03-29T02:34:18Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Mr. President (1962) > [The Secret Service Makes Me Nervous](https://youtu.be/7XVJngtkKXQb) The song seems to inspire outstanding performances. Here’s the same singer you link to, Anita Gillette, 50+ years later (and she arguably improved a bit): [At 54 Below](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M535zxW9YM) In the OP, I linked to Sandy Stewart, also very good. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2026, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-makes-me-nervous/1028830/14 "2026-03-29T02:57:19Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > In the OP, I linked to Sandy Stewart, also very good. - 🤦‍♂️ ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2026, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-makes-me-nervous/1028830/15 "2026-06-13T10:37:12Z")
[NBC Local Television: Bystander shot near White House is Army soldier with ‘severe injuries,’ attorney says](https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/bystander-shot-near-white-house-is-army-soldier-with-severe-injuries-attorney-says/4115977/) > [@](#): > > Investigators determined he was shot by the Secret Service, multiple sources tell News4. . . . > > News4 has repeatedly asked the Secret Service about the shooting. They said in a statement the day it occurred: “It remains unclear whether the bystander was struck by the suspect’s initial gunfire or during the exchange of gunfire.” News4 reached out again Friday. So they shot a tourist by mistake and put him in critical condition. I guess mistakes happen, but that’s a pretty bad mistake. If you contrast it to the shooting examples in the OP, where they are shooting themselves, this seems at least a bit worse. And three weeks later, the Secret Service still won’t admit it, something that might be the first step to getting them more careful with guns. The only way we know Secret Service shot a wholly innocent bystander is anonymous leakers. Thank you leakers. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2026, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-makes-me-nervous/1028830/16 "2026-06-13T12:32:28Z")
Nothing about the Trump administration is not a shitshow. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2026, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-makes-me-nervous/1028830/17 "2026-07-18T16:22:18Z")
Shheeeesss yes. My Wife and I are target shooters. Handguns. Everything is either in a safe or a vault. I’m teaching my wife about different weapons. The very first thing we do if looking over any weapon is of course unloading it, and PHYSICALLY SHOWING the other person it’s unloaded. They must also look at it. And then, of course, you treat it as it is loaded firearm. It’s one of the most basic of principals with any firearm. On a jury once, it was a firearm problem. The cop kept painting the jury box with an SKS. I felt like ducking. Then the baliff came in and laid the firearm on the table while we where deliberating. Pointing right at somebodys chest. I gently picked it up and set it in a corner. Lots of ‘unloaded’ guns have killed people. Idiots. That the SS does not know basic handling techniques is rather uncomfortable. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-makes-me-nervous/1028830/18 "2026-07-21T22:01:58Z")
[Associated Press: Bystander severely wounded outside White House says Secret Service failed him](https://apnews.com/article/secret-service-white-house-soldier-shot-lawsuit-b5aba6380383a7c29ad25e86d609064b) > [@](#): > > Part of his digestive system had to be removed. . . . > > The Secret Service has not said whether its agents fired the bullet that struck Del Real. So 39 days after local news reported that the bullet was fired by the Secret Service (see my last post in this thread), SS still refuses to say? This is not how an organization committed to learning from mistakes acts. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-makes-me-nervous/1028830/19 "2026-07-21T22:59:50Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > So they shot a tourist by mistake and put him in critical condition. I guess mistakes happen, but that’s a pretty bad mistake. Mistake is not a good term here. > The bystander shot and wounded near the White House last month as **[a man opened fire and the Secret Service shot back, killing the man](https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/secret-service-reports-shots-fired-near-white-house/4108148/)**, is a U.S. Army soldier who has “severe injuries,” his lawyers say. Investigators determined he was shot by the Secret Service, multiple sources tell News4. The Service had a legit reason to open fire, they did not want to hit the bystander. > [@PhillyGuy](#): > > The only way we know Secret Service shot a wholly innocent bystander is anonymous leakers. Thank you leakers. Not at all. > [@PhillyGuy](#): > > So 39 days after local news reported that the bullet was fired by the Secret Service (see my last post in this thread), SS still refuses to say? They cant. The Lawyers wont let them. There is a lawsuit. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-makes-me-nervous/1028830/20 "2026-07-21T23:40:22Z")
Maybe aim skillfully next time. It’s not like some armed idjit at the WH perimeter fence is an immediate threat to POTUS. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-makes-me-nervous/1028830.md?page=2)