Sleeping Secret Service

by Lawrence Kadish • July 23, 2024 at 10:30 am

US Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle appeared before a US House of Representatives Oversight Committee looking into the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump, in a performance worthy of – well – Ford's Theater. She dodged virtually all key questions regarding accountability, oversight, and who is ultimately responsible. Pictured: Cheatle testifies before the House Oversight Committee on July 22, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chris Kleponis/AFP via Getty Images)

If there was to be an award given to an incompetent, even criminally negligent, Secret Service official, it would have to be called the "Parker Trophy." It would be named for John Parker who was the Washington D.C. policeman assigned to guard Abraham Lincoln the night he was assassinated at Ford's Theater.

According to historians: "John Parker was an unlikely candidate to guard a president—or anyone for that matter.... Parker's record as a cop fell somewhere between pathetic and comical. He was hauled before the police board numerous times, facing a smorgasbord of charges that should have gotten him fired."

Parker may have been in a nearby saloon or somewhere in the theater gallery to watch the play when John Wilkes Booth entered Lincoln's box and shot him at point-blank range.

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