Pope Francis

By Seve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Hotels will be equipped with bullet-proof glass. Government snipers will be placed on rooftops. And mailboxes will be removed along parade routes.

Those are among the likely safeguards taken to protect Pope Francis during his U.S. visit., International Business Times reports. 

Joseph Clancy, the director of the Secret Service, even traveled to Italy in June to prepare for the pontiff’s visit.

“Facial recognition software will definitely be being used in any area where the Pope will be,” Ronald Kessler, the author of “The First Family Detail” and “In the President’s Secret Service,” told the International Business Times. “They’ll remove mailboxes that could have explosives along parade routes, seal manhole covers, protect the underside of the popemobile and stake out evacuation areas.”

So far, authorities said there have been no credible threats.

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Pope Francis

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

By all accounts, it’s a security nightmare.

The Secret Service is helping keep Pope Francis safe during his visit to the U.S., but it’s no easy task, the New York Times reports.

“The crowds throw things,” Mr. Clancy, who took over as the head of the Secret Service last October, told the Times. “They throw flags, dolls and, obviously, babies towards him. It’s difficult because we don’t want our agents to overreact. He doesn’t want to see an overreaction, either, but you don’t want to miss anything.”

What makes the protection even more difficult is the pontiff’s refusal to stay in his popemobile.

Pope Francis is making stops in Washington, Philadelphia and New York, and crowds are expected to grow into the hundreds of thousands.

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Pope Francis

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The Secret Service director emphasized that there are no credible threats against Pope Francis during his highly anticipated trip to the U.S., just a day after agents claimed that the pope was not safe. 

“There is nothing that we’re overly concerned about,” Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy said Wednesday, less than a week before the pope’s visit.

Clancy said “unprecedented” security efforts have been taken to protect the pope.

“This is definitely challenging,” Clancy still acknowledged.

“You break it down city by city, venue by venue,” he said.

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By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Secret Service agents said Pope Francis’ life is in danger because they cannot adequately protect him during his upcoming visit to the U.S., WND reports. 

The agents expressed concerns over the pope’s plans to ride in an open vehicle through crowds next week in Washington and New York.

Several agents assigned to papal security confided to WND that the pope won’t have enough protection.

“He wants to mingle with the crowd, kiss the babies and be accessible to the sick and elderly,” a Secret Service source said. “With what Vatican security is demanding we do politically, protecting the pope in the U.S. visit is going to be a nightmare.”

Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service agent, agrees.

“Because of the way Pope Francis wants his security handled, with a more discrete presence, the pope’s visit to the United States is a security disaster,” Bongino said.

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Pope Francis

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Federal authorities say they have thwarted a planned attack on Pope Francis during his upcoming U.S. visit.

The New York Daily News reports that Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul expressed concern about the pope’s safety in light of the planned attack.

“We are monitoring very closely threats against the pope as he comes into the United States,” he said. “We have disrupted one particular case, but as that date approaches, we’re all very vigilant to protect him.”

Details of the planned attack were not released.

“The pope is a very passionate man, he likes to get out with the people, and with that comes a large security risk,” he said.

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By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

It’s a complicated, logistical challenge for the Secret Service – protecting Pope Francis during his visit to the U.S.

What makes security more difficult is that the Pope loves to mingle with the crowds, ABC News reports. 

To prepare for Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to several major U.S. cities in late September, Secret Service officials, including Director Joseph Clancy, traveled to Italy in June to make the preparations.

“I went out to Rome to see firsthand how their detail works, protecting the pope and what he likes to do and how he travels within the crowds,” said Clancy in an interview with ABC News’ Senior Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas at the Secret Service Rowley Training Center.

Pope Francis is visiting Washington D.C., New York and Philadelphia.

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