‘Kind of crazy’: Vance’s Ohio neighbors can’t help but notice his Secret Service detail
30 September 2024
Sen. JD Vance of Ohio in Mesa, Arizona on September 4, 2024 (Gage Skidmore)
CINCINNATI — Since becoming former President Donald Trump’s running mate, the neighbors of Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) are seeing a lot more of him — or at least his Secret Service detail.
Even the local Skyline Chili franchise in Vance’s East Walnut Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati couldn’t help but catch neighbors’ attention when “six or seven big black SUVs that said U.S. Gov” showed up in late August, a 17-year-old server told Raw Story.
“There was Secret Service here around the whole building. They were standing inside. There was two people at the door, and they were like metal detecting as they came in,” the server said.
The restaurant and drive-thru became busy, and “the phone kept ringing asking who we had here,” said Tommy Whitson, manager for the Skyline Chili.
Neither Skyline Chili employee knew about the presence of the Vance family in advance, and the server said she didn’t know the security detail was related to the Republican vice presidential nominee until after the Secret Service left.
“It was good, different,” Whitson said. “Not used to that.”
Neighbors and small business employees in Cincinnati told Raw Story they noticed seeing a lot more of Vance, along with his wife and children, since he was named Trump’s running mate in July at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Vance’s presence might be all the more noticeable because as a vice presidential candidate, he and his family are entitled to Secret Service protection, which includes escorts on his personal and professional engagements, as well as security at his primary residence.
“The U.S. Secret Service provides 24/7 protection to all of our protectees, to include presidential and vice presidential candidates who have been granted protection, in all locations and during all activities,” Joe Routh, an agent with the Secret Service, told Raw Story in an emailed statement. “For operational security reasons, the U.S. Secret Service does not discuss the specific means, methods or costs associated with our protective responsibilities.”
‘Kind of crazy’: Spotting Vance's Secret Service
Vance’s home in East Walnut Hills, a neighborhood he told the Cincinnati Enquirer he loves for its “perfect combo of proximity to the city and to nature,” is hard to miss given the multiple vehicles out front, video cameras and fencing with signs notifying pedestrians of the “United States Secret Service Restricted Area.”
”There's a lot of security near his house, and they would follow him if he goes on a walk with the kids or whatever. It’s not a big deal,” said John Spinney, a neighbor of the Vances.
About a quarter mile from Vance’s house is evidence of what one neighbor, Tom Davis, calls an “80 percent liberal” area. For instance, nearby townhouses in September flew LGBTQ+ pride flags and displayed signs supporting the Democratic presidential ticket of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, along with Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.
Another sign said “For the love of God … anyone but Trump,” amended by hand to say 2024 instead of 2020. A nearby lamppost showed a counter perspective with a handmade “Trump 2024” sign secured under a no parking sign.
Davis, who is a property manager in the East Walnut Hills neighborhood, said he didn’t vote in the November 2022 election but would probably participate this year.
“I was gonna go with Kennedy, and then he backed Vance and Trump, so I'll probably go that route,” Davis said of independent candidate Roberty F. Kennedy, Jr., who has since dropped out of the presidential race but is actively campaigning for the Trump ticket.
As for the Secret Service in the neighborhood, Davis said, “I like it. It keeps us safe.”
Vance told the Cincinnati Enquirer that nearby Cafe Mochiko and The BonBonerie were two of his family’s favorite local businesses.
A server at Cafe Mochiko, who declined to be named, confirmed that Vance and his family “pop in occasionally.” The last time the Vances came by, the senator stayed in his car while his wife, Usha Vance, and the Secret Service came inside, the server said.
“It freaked everybody out, and everybody that was in here left, so that wasn't great,” the server said. “But before that was just before they announced him as VP, so it was just him, and it was fine.”
Erika Turnbull, a server at The BonBonerie, said Vance and his family have visited the cafe and its tea shop a couple times in the past three months. The staff know when Vance’s family is arriving when security cars are spotted at the front and back of the building.
“We have them stand at the front door, the back door, like even our kitchen doors,” Turnbull said. “For the tea reservation, they kind of pat us up and down when we go in and out, just to make sure we’re not bringing anything back. It's kind of crazy.”
Sometimes Vance draws a crowd and people come up to speak with him or take photos, Turnbull said.
“It’s kinda fun,” she said.
Stephen Marro, a small business owner at Newport on the Levee, a shopping mall across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, said Vance’s wife and children came by the mall recently.
“It was just more security. A lot of people are willing to do crazy things, so you have to prepare for it,” said Marro, of Elsmere, Ky.
Marro, who identifies as “progressive” rather than a Republican or Democrat, hasn’t met Vance and tries to “refrain from keeping up with politics as much lately, just because it's gotten more annoying, and frankly, depressing. It doesn’t feel good anymore.”
‘The threat never sleeps’: Secret Service protection for candidates
A federal law enforcement official confirmed to Raw Story that the size of the Secret Service detail for both the Trump and Harris campaign is the same.
“Whether we're horseback riding in Wyoming, whether we're skiing in the Alps, whether we're hiking in Hawaii, we do it all,” the federal law enforcement official told Raw Story in a phone interview. “We basically allow these people to have the same life experiences they had before protection when they're receiving protection, just because that's what the job calls. We don't want there to be limits on what they can and can't do.”
That includes personal errands and other daily tasks, the official said.
“The threat never sleeps,” the official said. “If someone wants to do them harm, they'll do harm to them at the dry cleaners or the grocery store, just as well as at a public setting, as far as like a campaign rally or something like that.”
The Secret Service has continued to face scrutiny following a second assassination attempt against Trump at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Fla. A bipartisan Senate committee released a report on Wednesday that said “foreseeable, preventable” failures took place during a rally in Butler, Pa.., that left Trump with a wound in his ear following an assassination attempt in July.
At a campaign rally in Sparta, Mich., on Sept. 17, Vance said the Secret Service needs to do more to protect Trump, The Detroit News reported.
"But whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, if an assassin takes out a presidential candidate in the midst of this election, it is going to cause a rift and a wound in this country that will be so deep that it will never heal," Vance said. "We cannot let this happen. We cannot let another person take a credible shot at Donald Trump's life. It's disgraceful and we can do more to protect him. And I think we have to do more to protect him."
A spokesperson for Vance acknowledged Raw Story's questions but did not immediately respond to Raw Story’s request for comment.