Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
The Secret Service threatened to shoot the New York Mets’ mascot with a sniper if he approached then-President Bill Clinton in 1997, the New York Daily News reports.
AJ Mass, who once wore the Mr. Met costume, detailed the account in his new memoir, “Yes, It’s Hot in Here — Adventures in the Weird, Wooly World of Sports Mascots.”
The threat came after he couldn’t squeeze his costume’s dome-sized head through a metal detector at Shea Stadium, where the president was honoring Jackie Robinson.
“We have snipers all around the stadium, just in case something were to happen,” the agent warned. “Like I said, do whatever it is you normally do. But approach the President, and we go for the kill shot. Are we clear?”
Mass said he couldn’t believe the reaction.
