Bags, IDs Go Unchecked, Security Absent, Despite Heightened Terror Alert At SF Federal Building
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- An order by the Homeland Security Department to increase security at federal buildings nationwide did not seem to have been followed through with at the federal courthouse in San Francisco.
Tuesday evening a homeless man was lying on the steps of the U.S. District Court building on 450 Golden Gate Ave. with three bags next to him, just a few feet from the empty guard shack.
There are 9,500 federal buildings nationwide are now on heightened alert in what was described as a "precautionary step," a week after a gunman stormed the Canadian Parliament building after fatally shooting a ceremonial guard.
Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said in a statement "the precise actions we are taking and the precise locations at which we will enhance security is law-enforcement sensitive, will vary and shift from location to location, and will be continually re-evaluated."
Officials told CBS News there is no specific target, nor is there a direct threat.
At the federal courthouse in San Francisco, the security guard ordered KPIX 5 to move from one side of the street to the opposite side. But the homeless man remained as of last night.
