Friday — March 19, 2004

Tight security
surrounds Kerry camp

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By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

The U.S. Secret Service and local law enforcement agencies will be active in and around Ketchum this week as they provide cooperative security for vacationing Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry.

The Kerrys on Wednesday commenced a scheduled one-week break from the presidential campaign trail to vacation at their home on the northern edge of Ketchum.

Presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., was flanked by security guards Thursday morning as he made his way through Warm Springs Village. Express photo by Greg Stahl

Kerry has secured enough electoral votes to be the Democratic nominee for president in the November 2004 election. However, he has continued to campaign to sustain a focused, nationwide effort to unseat President George W. Bush from the White House.

Security will be tight during the Kerrys’ visit to Ketchum, which is scheduled to last through Wednesday, March 24.

Secret Service Special Agent Robert Harrell, the sole Idaho employee of the U.S. Secret Service, said this week that Kerry started receiving Secret Service protection on Feb. 19.

While in and around Ketchum, Kerry will be protected by the Secret Service, city police, state police and the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office, Harrell said.

The senator, he said, is currently given a "low level" of protection that will escalate when he is formally nominated for president.

Secret Service Special Agent Robert Harrell told the Ketchum City Council Monday that the city should expect to incur some costs in providing security for Sen. John Kerry. Express photo by Willy Cook

When the senator is being escorted in a motorcade through Ketchum, some intersections will likely be closed for brief periods, Harrell said.

The Kerry residence will be provided a "bubble of protection" during all visits, Harrell said, but declined to state how big the bubble would be.

Curious onlookers would not be permitted to enter the Kerry neighborhood during visits by the senator and his wife, Harrell said.

"It’s a good thing and a bad thing," he said, noting that neighbors would gain some extra security but might also endure some small inconveniences.

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