Doug Emhoff, Husband of Kamala Harris, Evacuated From DC School: Officials

Doug Emhoff, Husband of Kamala Harris, Evacuated From DC School: Officials
Second gentleman Douglas Emhoff is seen with Vice President Kamala Harris after her remarks during a Cancer Moonshot initiative event in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Feb. 2, 2022. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Jack Phillips
2/8/2022
Updated:
2/9/2022

Vice President Kamala Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, was evacuated from a school after a bomb threat, according to a spokesperson.

Reporters who were on the scene said that Secret Service agents approached Emhoff, who was at Dunbar High School for an event in commemoration of Black History Month in Washington, and told him “we have to go.” An Associated Press reporter said Emhoff was taken away from the building and into his motorcade. Photos captured by the AP show him being grabbed by the arm and being moved by an agent.

District of Columbia Public Schools spokesman Enrique Gutierrez told the outlet that there was a bomb threat at the school. It’s not clear if it was connected to Emhoff’s visit.

“U.S. Secret Service was made aware of a security threat at a school where the @SecondGentleman was meeting with students and faculty,” Emhoff spokesperson Katie Peters wrote in a Twitter post, referring to the honorific used to describe Emhoff. “Mr. Emhoff is safe and the school has been evacuated. We are grateful to Secret Service and D.C. Police for their work.”

Earlier, Peters said the school told the Secret Service about the alleged threat, which was described as a “security incident or a report of a potential security incident.”

Emhoff’s wife, Harris, was not with him during the incident.

The Secret Service has not immediately responded to a request for comment.

Enrique Gutierrez, the press secretary for Washington, D.C.’s public school system, told ABC News that “it was an apparent bomb threat,” and “we’re taking precautions, evacuation ... evacuating everybody. Seems like all the students are out and safe.”
Kristen Metzger, a D.C. police spokeswoman, told The Washington Post that police were informed of the bomb threat at around 2:30 p.m. ET. No item or device was found as of 3 p.m., she said.

Students at the school were sent home, according to the Post. Teachers remained on the football field as of 3:45 p.m. ET as police dogs searched the premises.

“Our protocol is to clear the building and move the kids away,” Dunbar Principal Nadine Smith told reporters. “[The District of Columbia Public Schools] just gave us directions to make sure, to go ahead and send the kids home.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that she had no updates on the situation involving Emhoff.

Earlier, Emhoff’s office sent out a news release that he would visit the school “to meet with students who are participating in a program that helps them relate to history on a personal level.”

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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