Armed man with criminal record was allowed into lift with Barack Obama

A gun-carrying security contractor with three prior convictions for assault and battery was allowed into a lift with US President Barack Obama during a September 16 trip to Atlanta, violating Secret Service protocols, according to three people familiar with the incident.

Obama was not told of the lapse in his security, these people said. The Secret Service director, Julia Pierson, asked a top agency manager to review the matter, but did not refer it to an investigative unit that was created to review violations of protocol and standards, according to two people familiar with the handling of the case who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The incident, which took place as Obama visited the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to discuss the US response to the Ebola crisis, rattled Secret Service agents assigned to protect the president.

The private contractor first aroused the agents' concerns when he was acting oddly and did not comply with their orders that he stop using a phone camera to videotape the president in the lift, according to the people familiar with the incident.

When the lift opened, Obama left with most of his Secret Service detail. Some agents stayed behind to question the man, and then used a national database check to learn of his criminal history.

When a supervisor from the firm providing security at the CDC approached and discovered the agents' concerns, the contractor was fired on the spot. Then the contractor agreed to turn over his gun - surprising agents, who had not even realised he was armed during his encounter with Obama.