Photographer breaches Biden’s security perimeter

An unidentified photographer got past Joe Biden’s Secret Service perimeter Friday afternoon in Pennsylvania as the former vice president and Democratic presidential nominee boarded his charter plane.

Biden and his wife were walking up to the steps of their plane in Johnstown-Cambria County Airport when a photographer walked around the plane’s rear and approached the area beneath the plane’s wing before the Secret Service physically removed him. The man had been credentialed to cover an earlier event and resisted the Secret Service upon confronting them. 

“A member of the media who was credentialed for an event earlier in the day attempted to gain access to the airport tarmac for the departure of presidential candidate Biden,” a Secret Service spokesperson told The Hill. “The individual encountered law enforcement, disregarded their instructions, and accessed the tarmac. U.S. Secret Service personnel apprehended the individual and escorted him from the area.” 

The Biden campaign declined to comment, referring The Hill to the Secret Service.

As part of its safety procedures put in place during the coronavirus pandemic, the Biden campaign allows only a small “pooled” press corps of about 12 people to follow the former vice president on the trail. The Secret Service sweeps the members of the pool each morning before they’re permitted to travel with the campaign.

Biden was granted full Secret Service protection in March after protesters rushed the stage at an event and had to be removed by security. 

The former vice president traveled from Delaware to New York and Pennsylvania Friday for events to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.