Secret Service agents protecting Biden’s granddaughter open fire when 3 people try to break into SUV

The title looks like it's trying to imply that the thiefs specifically targeted her, when the article makes it more clear that they likely just tried to steal the car not knowing it was from the Secret Service.

Gotta add that clickbait for the views 🙄

Sad thing is, it probably would have generated as many hits if the headline was more open. I mean that’s freaking hilarious in a morbid way - that the would be thieves just happened to pick the wrong car to try and steal.
- The new and improved bait car with active defenses!
How would you have written it?
- Not OP
  
  Secret Service agents protecting Biden’s granddaughter open fire when 3 people pick the wrong SUV to streal.

Imagine just trying to break into a car and you fucking pick the presidents daughter.

Bad fucking luck there.

I’m glad that’s “all” it was - a routine car break-in or stolen vehicle. My first thought was that some fucking domestic terrorists/Trump cultists knew exactly what they were doing. Glad it wasn’t that.
- The fact that the car was unoccupied was their saving grace here. One of the agents fired a shot and “missed” which was almost certainly a warning shot. Had someone been in that car, the attempted thieves would almost certainly be dead.
- Yup. Me too. It would be on brand.
- Well, if it was that and Joe Biden's daughter was in the vehicle, then you might hear random demands being made on her life to either surrender the country to Russia or to the Taliban so it can be changed to either the Russian States of American or the Taliban States of American, which would really have us feeling a mass armed uprising or another civil war is coming.
- That was my assumption too. Do we have indication one way or the other, that it was targeted or random?
- Do they ever do?
Imagine being an idiot in DC and not knowing how government cars/ protected cars look like.
- Yeah if you see a black SUV with tinted windows in DC it should be pretty self explanatory not to fuck with it
- Tiktok has emboldened a new generation of idiots.
You've got to pretty unobservant in reality. Like hey this car has a police radio and extra antennas. I should definitely keep going, this won't go bad at all.
- Do they have any obvious identifying marks anymore? My understanding was that they are intentionally pretty non-descript vehicles, not drawing attention
I've spent enough time in arcades to know that's just the plot to a kickass beat-em-up side scroller.
*granddaughter. Bad luck either way.

FTA:

Secret Service agents protecting President Joe Biden’s granddaughter opened fire after three people tried to break into an unmarked Secret Service vehicle in the nation’s capital, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

Awesome that they were trying to break into a car, and it turned out to be an unmarked Secret Service vehicle.

That is some seriously bad situational awareness combined with some terribly bad luck for those thieves.

One of the agents opened fire, but no one was struck by the gunfire, the Secret Service said in a statement. The three people were seen fleeing in a red car

Then there is the fortune that they were allowed to flee the scene.... unharmed....
- Would they be dare to open another chest, knowing it may become a mimic really fast?
- Are we not acknowledging that an agent opened fire on people for breaking into a vehicle? There's no danger to anyone's life yet a Secret Service agent just opens fire in public where, based on the article, there were likely hundreds of other citizens around shopping.

Note to self: Don't fuck with Naomi's car

As illegal and unlawful as it would be, I think it would have been infinitely funnier if they had succeeded in car jacking a Secret Service SUV.

Can you imagine seeing some tutorial get uploaded explaining how to bypass the key starter like a KIA lmao

Glad this was just a stupid GTA cosplay and not something much worse.

Good. If you try to break into someone else's shit, you should reasonably expect to get shot at.

It is worrying to me that the supposedly highest trained security guards in the world couldn't actually hit their target. I would expect better in terms of both accuracy and fire discipline.

It is also worrying that if a citizen like you or me tried to defend ourselves and our property in the same way in much of these nation including DC, we would go to jail. I think we deserve the same rights as 'important people'.

Imagine living in a country where people are so obsessed with guns that everybody has guns and everyone is a potential threat or one insult away from doing a mass shooting. It's gotten so bad that America has become a parody of Grand Theft Auto, where you can actually feel safer as a character in a video game that glorifies violence and crime.

Your nation has gone beyond ape shit.

There isn't another developed nation in the world where gun violence is as big a problem as in America.

This ISN'T NORMAL.
- Age-adjusted firearm homicide rates in the US are 33 times greater than in Australia and 77 times greater than in Germany. Gun violence accounts for over 8% of deaths in the US among those under age 20.
  
  https://www.healthdata.org/news-events/insights-blog/acting-data/gun-violence-united-states-outlier
- Imagine living in a country where people are so obsessed with guns that everybody has guns and everyone is a potential threat or one insult away from doing a mass shooting.
  
  I don't know what nation you're from but America is nothing at all like this. Gun owners aren't like this.
  People who don't understand American gun culture expect it's like GTA- everybody's strapped, fender-benders at traffic lights turn into firefights, don't dare tell anyone anything negative because they'll shoot you if they don't like what you say. This isn't at all the case though. Not even close.
  
  Gun owners who carry guns look at it like a seat belt or fire extinguisher-- you hope to god you never need it, but if ever you do, having it might save your life. There is no action movie attitude of 'who do I shoot today?'. Gun owners recognize how serious a responsibility it is, and petty arguments rarely involve weapons fire, even in situations where everyone involved is armed.
  
  We have a big problem with gun violence- but the majority of it is caused by our bigger problem of poverty and hopelessness in many areas. People turn to drugs, that are supplied by violent gangs who are all armed with illegal guns. Those guys commit the lion's share of our gun homicide.
  
  Problem is, fixing it is a slow and expensive generational process. You need better schools, mental health care, child care, reproductive care, and real jobs for people to aspire to (not just flipping burgers). This costs billions.
  
  If you want to criticize us for something- criticize us for spending billions/trillions on military (we have more military force than the next 10 nations combined, including all our major enemies) when our budgets are fucked and we can't even seem to take care of our own citizens. THAT is worthy of your criticism (and mine).
  
  I'm not aware of another developed nation where getting cancer means you've got a good chance of going bankrupt. THAT ISN'T NORMAL and we should be fixing that shit.
Good. If you try to break into someone else's shit, you should reasonably expect to get shot at.

In many other contexts this would be downvoted to oblivion on Lemmy.
- Good. If you try to break into someone else’s shit, you should reasonably expect to get shot at.
  
  In many other contexts this would be downvoted to oblivion on Lemmy.
  
  In many other contexts, this is fucking insane.
- Exactly right. If the article says "home owner shoots armed robber attempting to kidnap children" you'd have people losing their minds about guns and violence. Also people would be upset that the person owned a home...
- Yeah I've noticed :-( Lemmy overall seems much less tolerant of gun ownership or use of force than Reddit. Even when it is obviously justified.
  
  The headline could be, "Good Samaritan opens fire to defend disabled orphan POC child and her blind 3-legged rescue kitten from white supremacist pedophile rape gang" and half the comments would be how the stupid hick Republican ammosexual who wants more school shootings is so worthless he needs to carry around a lethal penis extender.
  
  But throw in a little criticism of government or police... Heh
Because a world where people are firing guns at each other all the time is INSANE, regardless of the context. Most of the developed world has figured this out.
- If you look at the data, the vast majority of people who are 'firing guns at each other all the time' are gang members in low-income inner cities.
  
  To distill a bunch of stats, half the people of the US own guns, and they own enough guns to arm the other half and have plenty left over.
  Per FBI, there's about 10k-15k firearm homicides per year. That means on average an American has a 0.005% chance of being killed by a gun in any given year.
  
  If we truly were 'firing guns at each other all the time' that number would be WAY WAY WAY WAY higher.
The whole point of equality is that we’re all supposed to have the same rights and responsibilities.
- Couldn't agree more. Biden gets to protect his family with guns. I think you and me should have that right also.
  If I take a shot without being sure I'm gonna hit a criminal, I'm in big trouble. But if a cop/guard does the same, oh well.
  
  I don't like double standards.

Area has an increase of car jackings, according to the article, so it was probably some unlucky thieves breaking into the unoccupied SUV.

I kind of think the bigger story is, why were Secret Service shooting at suspects trying to enter an empty vehicle? Unless there were firearms in the vehicle, feels a bit excessive to potentially kill 1 to 4 people over a car break in where no one’s life was in direct danger.

Maybe there’s more missing details that clear up the story so we’d have to wait and see.

I kind of think the bigger story is, why were Secret Service shooting at suspects trying to enter an empty vehicle?

My thoughts, from a layman. I could be totally off base here.

A secret service vehicle is likely armed and armored to the teeth, and the last thing anyone wants is 3 idiots cruisng around town in the equivalent of a soccer mom's tank. Also, it's probably bad enough that they have egg on their face from shooting at the suspect and missing; can you imagine the embarrassment of 3 secret service agents allowing one of their vehicles to be stolen by a group of randoms? There's also the fact that if they were successful, it would be a national security issue at the very least.

It's very likely that the windows are heavily tinted in order to make it impossible to see who or what is in the car, and the agents are likely trained to treat any attempt at breaking into or damaging the car as if the person under protection is inside of it, whether or not they actually are. Had the secret service not acted this way and this was actually a targeted attack, the bad actors would then know that the Secret Service doesn't respond the same way when the vehicle is empty, which is information that could be used in future attacks.

There is also the possibility that there's more to the story than we're being informed about, such as the possibility of a credible threat against Biden's granddaughter. If that's the case, those are details that we'll likely never, ever know about.
There is a chance that documents regarding schedules and other sensitive matters may be in the vehicle. A security leak of that nature could be life threatening to a bigger target. Alternatively, being stranded would leave Naomi vulnerable to kidnapping and assault.

Not saying the shooting was an appropriate response given the location, but the agents are right to be aggravated given the line of work and stakes involved.
Something I haven't seen yet is there's the possibility (in the split second decision making, not hindsight) that they were attempting to sabotage the vehicle in some way. That vehicle would be their primary escape and disabling or trapping it could be the prelude to an attack or kidnapping attempt.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secret Service agents protecting President Joe Biden’s granddaughter opened fire after three people tried to break into an unmarked Secret Service vehicle in the nation’s capital, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

The agents, assigned to protect Naomi Biden, were out with her in the Georgetown neighborhood late Sunday night when they saw the three people breaking a window of the parked and unoccupied SUV, the official said.

The official could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to the AP on Monday on the condition of anonymity.

The three people were seen fleeing in a red car, and the Secret Service said it put out a regional bulletin to Metropolitan Police to be on the lookout for it.

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas was carjacked near the Capitol last month by three armed assailants, who stole his car but didn’t physically harm him.

In February, U.S. Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota was assaulted in her apartment building, suffering bruises while escaping serious injury.

The original article contains 249 words, the summary contains 172 words. Saved 31%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

What a shit title.

TIL objective facts are shit

Did they blow any lungs out?

Crazy that they opened fire on people trying to break in to an unoccupied vehicle.

EDIT: Jesus Christ people. Do you think it's ok to discharge a firearm in public to attempt to wound or kill someone trying to break in to an unoccupied vehicle? That's insane.

A secret service vehicle likely has fully automatic weapons inside as well as encrypted radios with current keys and who knows what level of sensitive real time info on presidential movements. It wasn’t just an “unoccupied car” it was a liability that could lead to real danger to the public.
- A secret service vehicle likely has fully automatic weapons inside
  
  No one should be leaving weapons and especially full automatic weapons unattended in a god damn vehicle!
  
  ...who knows what level of sensitive real time info on presidential movements.
  
  How fucking dumb do you have to be to leave sensitive security information lying around unattended in a vehicle!
  
  It wasn’t just an “unoccupied car” it was a liability that could lead to real danger to the public.
  
  Any vehicle so stuffed with weapons and confidential information that it needs to be defended by lethal force shouldn't be parked and left unattended on a public street! Everything that you've offered isn't justification for lethal force, it's describing behavior so negligent that it would literally rise to the level of CRIMINAL PROSECUTION for any regular person.
- None of which likely constitutes legal justification for deadly force without evidence the offenders' intent was more than just burglary of an unoccupied car (an occupied car would be a different story). There might be a case for the fleeing felon rule after they stole guns, but it would be weak.
  
  I don't have much sympathy for burglars, but shooting in an urban area poses a considerable risk to bystanders and should be reserved for imminent threats to life.
It's easy to dehumanizing people.
- Yes, however keeping humanity in mind does not mean you never fire your weapon.
You're downvoted but that surprised me as well, being the Secret Service and not [local] police. The perpetrators fled in a vehicle. Doesn't sound like they were a threat; just car thieves trying to flee.

Important to note that only one Secret Service member opened fire. That makes me more suspicious that it was an unjustified use of force.

That's an irresponsible reason to discharge firearms in public. Not worth risking innocent bystanders' lives over petty car thieves.
- I expect this armchair analyst from reddit.
  
  Welp, looks like we got them here too
- The Secret Service are cop-adjacent to the point that they more than deserve a side eye at the best of times.
  
  But a visibly unarmed person trying to get into the car could very easily be carrying explosives. Since... that would be a reason you would try to compromise the vehicle of a high value target. It goes against basically all gun safety, but driving them off from a likely populated area is probably in that "Net good?" territory.
- The Secret Service are police. They are most well known for protecting presidents and their families but their original and primary mandate is to protect the integrity of US currency. They have jurisdiction over all federal financial crimes and a particular focus on counterfeiting.
- This is America.
  
  If the secret service didn't use excessive force they would probably be reprimanded!
No mention that the thieves had weapons or anything.

Just start blasting?
- No mention that they were unarmed either. The article in general is very light on details.
  
  For all we know the secret service shot their own car in a very loud demonstration of "fuck off"
There's an entirely different calculus around the protection of a country's leadership.
- Shh
  
  Car thieves are a blessing and have to be protected at all costs.
  
  The continued functioning of the government?
  
  Naw lemmy tankies don't have time for that.

Imagine opening fire on people trying to break into an unoccupied parked car. That's the reaction in a normal country. /s

Wait...so if I see someone breaking a window on an unoccupied vehicle I can just go ahead and start shooting at them?

Don't break the window of a vehicle belonging to the Presidents family.
- It was unmarked.
In Texas you can.
No, you are first supposed to go up to them, putting yourself in unnecessary danger, so they have a chance of getting your gun and then shoot them. Rittenhouse style.

Also be white.

One of the agents opened fire, but no one was struck by the gunfire, the Secret Service said in a statement.

Sad news.