A man was arrested Tuesday for tampering with a license plate obstruction device on U.S. Secret Service detail vehicles assigned to Vice President Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter, Ella Emhoff.
The incident took place in the Tribeca neighborhood of New York City, where 45-year-old Harry Heymann attempted to dismantle the devices on two Secret Service vehicles as Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff’s daughter had lunch at Bubby’s, a nearby restaurant.
Video obtained by TMZ and later shared by AP News showed Emhoff being ushered into a black SUV and a man being led away in handcuffs.
Heymann, reportedly a member of an activist group in New York City that combats devices that obscure license plates from toll and traffic cameras, was attempting to remove an illegal license plate cover from two Secret Service vehicles, per transit newspaper Streetsblog. He was reportedly unaware that the cars belonged to the Secret Service.
“On Tuesday afternoon, an individual approached two United States Secret Service vehicles parked in lower Manhattan and, without provocation, caused damage to the rear license plate area of both,” USSS spokesperson James Byrne said in a statement, per CNN.
Heymann has previously been vocal about his opposition to plate obscuring maneuvers, tweeting earlier this month about the NYPD’s lack of action on so-called “ghost cars.”
Emhoff, who previously dipped her toe into the race to blast vice presidential nominee JD Vance for referring to her stepmother as a “childless cat lady,” was not harmed during the incident.
The arrest comes amid turmoil inside the Secret Service, after a failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump earlier this month sparked a siege from Congressional Republicans against the department, resulting in the resignation of Director Kimberly Cheatle.
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