Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Anti-gun Senator Accompanied by “Unprecedented” Security Detail While Traveling in California

Friday, September 14, 2018

Anti-gun Senator Accompanied by “Unprecedented” Security Detail While Traveling in California

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) is no fan of the Second Amendment. As California attorney general, she sided with local officials who refused to issue concealed carry permits to qualified, law-abiding applicants unless they could demonstrate an extraordinary need to carry a gun beyond concern for personal safety. More recently as a U.S. senator, Harris has co-sponsored legislation to ban firearms and magazines millions of Americans own to defend themselves and their loved ones, including the iconic AR-15.

Yet an investigation by NBC4 TV in Los Angeles indicated that Harris is much more open-minded about guns when it comes to her own security. According to the report, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) provided Sen. Harris with armed security not just while she was in the city, but on trips throughout California, all courtesy of the city’s taxpayers. A retired senior LAPD official characterized Harris’s security arrangement as “unprecedented” in its scope.

NBC4 TV reported, “Armed, plain-clothes LAPD officers were dispatched to California cities outside of Los Angeles at least a dozen times to provide security for U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris at public events, media appearances, and a party.” It continued, “The total coast of the trips, not including the officers’ overtime, topped $28,000.”

Harris’s office did not deny the TV station’s findings but claimed the senator was merely deferring to “public safety experts on procedures, protocols and determinations,” without having requested any special favors. “[W]e are grateful for the ongoing work of officers in Los Angeles and across the state who risk their lives to keep all Californians safe,” a spokesperson added.

The report stated that the arrangement was in effect between January 2017 and July 2018. It coincidentally ended “around the time the Los Angeles Times filed a lawsuit that demanded Mayor Eric Garcetti turn over records detailing the taxpayer expense of his own security detail during his extensive out-of-state travels … .”

Mayor Garcetti insisted that former LAPD Chief Charlie Beck was “solely responsible” for approving the arrangement and that he did not become aware that the LAPD was providing Sen. Harris with security outside of the city until the matter was brought to his attention by the LAPD’s new chief, Michel Moore.

Chief Moore was said to have discontinued the state-wide security detail after a “new assessment of the threat” Harris supposedly faced in California “determined that this arrangement was no longer needed.”

Uh, huh.

This is not the first time that Harris has been the subject of an embarrassing news story concerning the gun-carrying habits of those in her official orbit. During her tenure as California attorney general, one of her aides, Brandon Kiel, was arrested for impersonating a police officer.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Kiel was part of a trio that claimed law enforcement authority under the guise of the Masonic Fraternal Police Department (MFPD). Kiel and his cohorts insisted the MFPD had existed for more than 3,000 years, with membership tracing back to the Knights Templar. Its jurisdiction, they said, reached into 33 states and Mexico.

Authorities in California became suspicious, the Times stated, when the MFPD began contacting local police departments to announce their new leadership. This included a “courtesy call” to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) to let the agency know the MFPD was “setting up shop in the area.” After meeting with the MFPD’s uniformed members for 45 minutes, an LASD captain ordered an investigation into their activities. The three were subsequently arrested, according to the Washington Post, “after the real police found ‘badges, identification cards, weapons, uniforms, police type vehicles and other law enforcement equipment’ during a search of two locations linked to the organization … .”

The charges against Harris’s aide were eventually dropped after the MFPD’s “chief” and “Grandmaster” died following a court appearance, and Kiel’s attorney asked the court to suppress the evidence against his client as the fruit of an illegal police search. Kiel’s attorney told the Los Angeles times that his client “was hopeful to move on and is now pursuing graduate studies.”

Kamala Harris has often been cited as a potential contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. Should she succeed, she’ll have the benefit of armed security subsidized by all American taxpayers, even as she works toward additional restrictions on the ability of Americans to protect themselves and their families.  

 

 

IN THIS ARTICLE
California Kamala Harris
TRENDING NOW
Colorado: General Assembly Continues to Follow California's Lead; Semi-Auto Ban Scheduled For Hearing

Thursday, March 7, 2024

Colorado: General Assembly Continues to Follow California's Lead; Semi-Auto Ban Scheduled For Hearing

The Colorado General Assembly continues to follow California's lead when it comes to gun control, this year already pushing for an 11% Excise tax on firearms/ammunition and now pursuing a ban on commonly owned semi-automatic ...

Wisconsin: Legislation Updating the Definition of Muzzloader Signed by Governor Evers

Friday, March 15, 2024

Wisconsin: Legislation Updating the Definition of Muzzloader Signed by Governor Evers

Yesterday, the governor signed Wisconsin Act 116, formally Senate Bill 587, into law. This legislation establishes a new definition for “muzzleloaders” that would allow for the use of innovative technological advancements that could benefit sportsmen, ...

Maine: NRA Fires Back Against Gun Grabbers

Friday, March 15, 2024

Maine: NRA Fires Back Against Gun Grabbers

For months, anti-gun politicians and gun-grabbing groups have been running wild in Augusta, spreading misinformation about firearms in a desperate attempt to pass the most extreme gun-control in the country. The proposals carry the same theme, ...

Delaware: Senate Passes Maryland-Style Permit to Purchase Scheme

Friday, March 15, 2024

Delaware: Senate Passes Maryland-Style Permit to Purchase Scheme

Last night, the Delaware Senate passed Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 2 (SB 2) by a vote of 15 to 6. This extreme legislation will impose a Maryland-style “handgun qualified purchase card” and a handgun transfer ...

Virginia: More than a Dozen Anti-Gun Bills Sent to the Governor!

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Virginia: More than a Dozen Anti-Gun Bills Sent to the Governor!

The newly elected Virginia General Assembly has prioritized restricting law-abiding citizens' Second Amendment rights and has made good on that priority this session. This year, dozens of anti-gun bills have been considered in both chambers ...

Colorado: Mandatory Storage Bill Passes Committee and Hearings Postponed Due to Weather

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Colorado: Mandatory Storage Bill Passes Committee and Hearings Postponed Due to Weather

Today, HB 24-1348 which mandates how firearms must be stored in unattended vehicles, passed out of the House Judiciary Committee and is now eligible for a final vote on the House Floor. Please contact your lawmakers by using the ...

Colorado: Semi-Auto Ban Introduced in General Assembly

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Colorado: Semi-Auto Ban Introduced in General Assembly

Anti-Gun extremist State Reps. Tim Hernandez (D-04) and Elisabeth Epps (D-06) introduced House Bill 24-1292, a bill banning the manufacturing, importing, purchasing, selling, offering to sell, or transferring ownership of so called “assault weapons”. 

Utah: Governor Cox Signs Legislation Protecting Financial Privacy of Gun Owners!

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Utah: Governor Cox Signs Legislation Protecting Financial Privacy of Gun Owners!

Today, Governor Spencer Cox signed HB 406, legislation that provides important financial privacy protections for gun owners when purchasing firearms, firearm parts, and ammunition. The NRA would like to thank Governor Cox for signing this ...

Idaho: Legislative Update- Big Wins in the Gem State

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Idaho: Legislative Update- Big Wins in the Gem State

There have been big wins in the Gem State this week for the Second Amendment! Anti school carry bill is stopped in its tracks in committee and multiple pro-guns bills are on the move in ...

Washington Post’s Somewhat Pro-Gun Column Inadvertently Exposes Problem with Mandatory Storage Laws

News  

Monday, March 11, 2024

Washington Post’s Somewhat Pro-Gun Column Inadvertently Exposes Problem with Mandatory Storage Laws

We generally don’t expect to see the Washington Post say anything positive about firearms or law-abiding gun owners, although there are occasional Op-Eds from pro-Second Amendment lawmakers, unbiased researchers and Constitutional scholars, and the like.

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.