Quite by accident, I assure you. It was when I went to see Vice President Biden's speech at Netroots Nation in Detroit this July. I saw the long lines and the metal detectors for people trying to get in to see the speech, and realized they might confiscate my Swiss Army Knife, so I went back downstairs to stash it at the Warmth for Vets display. When I was going back to the staircase to go back up, I ran into Scottie Thomaston, who asked me if I knew where the nearest elevator was, so he could go up to see it. I looked around, and saw a sign for an elevator, so he and I went there and took it up. When the doors opened and we got out, lo and behold, we were inside the security perimeter!
For more of the story, please go beyond the orange kos security perimeter.
Here is the text of the message I sent to the Veep's office today, in their category of "Help With a Federal Agency":
Secret Service Security Breach.
A friend of mine and I inadvertently circumvented the security perimeter when we saw your speech at Netroots Nation in Detroit.
I was heading for the stairs to go up to see the speech, when I ran into my friend Scottie, who asked me if I knew where the nearest elevator was (he is paraplegic). I looked around and saw one, so we went and took it up, and when the doors opened and we got out, we discovered that we were inside the security perimeter.
There were a few Secret Service agents (I presume) in the vicinity, but they were paying no attention to that unsecured elevator. I went up to them and asked if they wanted us to go out and get in line, but they said no, they would search us there. So they used the wand on me, and since that would be useless with Scottie in his wheelchair, they brought a (really cute) dog to sniff him and his stuff, then they let us go see your speech. (You may have noticed my friend, since I brought him right up to the front; I had to sit much further back.)
With the current questions regarding Secret Service security failures, I thought you might want to know about this one.
Did any of the rest of you who were there have a similar experience?