I'm not familiar with Secret Service procedure. I'd imagine that they need to investigate all reported threats to the president. Would a phone interview be "harassment and intimidation"? Plenty of paranoid freepers would call it that. They'd complain about checking whatever this poor schmoe had on file, too.
I think that once the SS was contacted, they had little choice but to check things out. It was the fool that initiated this - and his commanders, or their procedures that allowed it to escalate - that need to be excoriated here.
Like I said, I'm not waiting on anything to happen. I'd be worried, though, if there was a *real* threat reported by OKC PD...How much credence do you think that they have, now?
I am. It would be impossible to check out all reported threats to the president. They have to be credible. If the SS agents were told what was on the sign, how could they decide it was credible given the context? I don't buy the "just following orders" nonsense. A quick police and lookout check would have been more than enough. We are talking about interpreting a sign publicly displayed in a car.
Like I said, I'm not waiting on anything to happen. I'd be worried, though, if there was a *real* threat reported by OKC PD...How much credence do you think that they have, now?
OK PCD credence is not the issue. How did this complaint ever make it to the SS and why did the SS invest the time and effort to actually go to the guy's home and have a walk-thru? I have some very real questions about police and SS policy and procedures. Ruby Ridge, Waco, Elian Gonzales, the release of personal data on Linda Tripp, etc. are cases where civil liberties are violated and the USG goes amok. I am not about to give anyone a pass, and I say that as someone who worked for the USG for 36 years.