A pair of U.S. Secret Service agents watching over Vice President Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter had their unmarked SUV vandalized in lower Manhattan by a man who tried to remove an illegal license plate cover, police and witnesses said Wednesday.
The agents were sitting in the SUV near Hudson and North Moore Sts. in Tribeca keeping tabs on second gentleman Doug Emhoff’s daughter Emma about 12:40 p.m. Tuesday when Harry Heymann, 45, stormed up and ripped off the license plate cover, a friend of Heymann’s told Streetsblog.
The illegal cover is used by many law enforcement officials to skirt paying for bridge and tunnel tolls, the website charges.
Emma Emhoff, 25, was dining at a restaurant nearby. In three weeks, Harris is expected to be nominated as the Democratic candidate in the 2024 presidential election, replacing President Joe Biden, who announced that he was stepping out of the race.
Heymann is a software engineer who has complained on social media about law enforcement parking illegally on city streets and in front of police stations. Law enforcement sources described him to TMZ, which first reported the arrest, as an “anti-police watcher” who is against law enforcement having parking placards allowing them to park wherever they choose.
He was caught on video yelling at a Secret Service agent before being taken into custody.
Emhoff wasn’t involved in the clash and was not harmed but the Secret Service hurried her into another SUV and took her from the scene as a precaution.
The NYPD could not immediately confirm what Heymann is accused of other than “damaging the rear of the vehicle.”
Cops charged him with criminal mischief and obstruction of government administration. His arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court was pending Wednesday.
“On Tuesday afternoon, an individual approached two United States Secret Service vehicles parked in lower Manhattan and, without provocation, caused damage to the rear license plate area of both,” a Secret Service spokesman said. “Secret Service agents quickly detained the individual until local authorities arrived and placed the individual into police custody. At no point was any protectee in danger.”
Emhoff is a model and an artist who has been nicknamed “the first daughter of Bushwick,” where she resides.
