As the first black man elected President of the United States, Barack Obama’s win is unprecedented. But there’s another first associated with him, too.
“I think that’s the first time bulletproof glass was used around a candidate during an acceptance speech,” says Tony DiPonio, the vice-president of operations at Pacific Bulletproof Co., a manufacturer of bullet resistance products.
Viewers at home couldn’t see it, but Obama gave his Nov. 4 victory speech in Chicago’s Grant Park while sandwiched between two-inch thick, 10-feet high, and 15-feet long bullet-resistant glass panels. News crews formed a layer of protection in front of him. Nearly all of the city’s police force worked the crowd around him. Undercover agents were posted in the skyscrapers surrounding the venue. And the air above the President-elect was a designated no-fly zone, minus the numerous police helicopters that dotted the night sky.
Ever since Hillary Clinton alluded to the A-word way back in the primaries and got blasted for it, the possibility of Barack Obama’s assassination has been nestled uncomfortably in people’s minds.
People don’t want to hear or talk about the A-word, which is understandable, given the excitement and optimism Obama has brought to a country on the brink of implosion. But the man will be, after all, the first black president. This consideration was beside the point during his race to the White House—and rightly so—but now that Obama’s crossed the finish line, perhaps it’s time to own up to the real danger that looms over his historic presidency.
The public may prefer to keep hush-hush about any impending threat, but thankfully, the Secret Service seems more than ready to face reality for us. The bulletproof glass is just one step toward protecting Obama.
Is it all overkill? Hardly.
There are nine levels of bulletproof protection, based on the dimensions of the glass used. The highest level used for civilian situations—in banks, fast food restaurants, check cashing stores—is a level three.
“For Obama, they used a level five, which could withstand a 7.62 mm round armor piercing, which you’d see out of a rifle,” says DiPonio. “Thinking a guy’s not going to run up to the podium with a handgun, that’s a smart choice.”
Glass with a level five protection rating also sufficiently shields against the impact of any debris that could fly from an explosion about 10-15 feet away.
DiPonio anticipates that we’ll be seeing more and more of this glass used in these situations.
“From the research I’ve read, a few days after Obama was elected, gun sales went up almost 300 percent,” he says.
In addition, white supremacy groups are claiming that they’ve seen a membership surge since the election. Their website traffic is up. Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke acknowledged that Obama has emerged as “a visual aid for hate groups.” This has prompted the Secret Service to amp up its protection by arming the President-elect with 30 body guards—24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Obama had already been the target of countless threats and a couple assassination attempts prior to election day, so the public’s insistence on skirting any discussion of the man’s safety is a little negligent, but at least we can rest assured that the Secret Service has stepped up its efforts to have our boy’s back. We may not want to see our next president “on display” in a glass box, but if we want to see him make history on Jan. 20—then so be it.
