Motorcycle officer killed while escorting Clinton

DALLAS — A Dallas police officer participating in a motorcade escorting Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign entourage to a rally was killed Friday when his motorcycle lost control, authorities said.

The officer was identified by police as Victor Lozada-Tirado, 49, who held the rank of senior corporal and was in his 20th year on the police force. Police said he was married and had four children.

Clinton continued with her campaign event in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas but curtailed a rally that had been scheduled for Fort Worth.

"It is deeply, deeply tragic that this loss occurred, and I know that our thoughts and our prayers are with his family," Clinton said in Fort Worth. She said holding a rally was not appropriate "because of this tragedy."

Dallas police said the motorcycle struck a curb and went down. The incident occurred shortly after the motorcade passed through Dealey Plaza, where President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.

Clinton said she visited the officer's widow at the hospital "to thank her for her husband's service and certainly to express my deep condolences about her loss and the loss to her family."

Associates expect Nader to run again

WASHINGTON — Four years after he announced a presidential run on NBC's "Meet the Press," Ralph Nader is poised to do it again.

He's scheduled to appear on the program Sunday, and longtime associates said they think the consumer advocate will announce his candidacy. Having abandoned the Green Party after being its nominee in 2000, he's more likely to run as an independent again, they said.

Nader last month began an exploratory presidential campaign and launched a Web site that promises to fight "corporate greed, corporate power, corporate control."

Nader is loathed by many Democrats who call him a spoiler and claim his candidacy in 2000 cost Democrats the election by siphoning votes away from Al Gore in a razor-thin contest in Florida.

Agency defends Obama security

DALLAS — The U.S. Secret Service on Friday defended its handling of security during a rally in Dallas for Barack Obama, saying there was no "lapse" in the "comprehensive and layered security plan," which called for some people to be checked for weapons while others were not.

A newspaper report that said some security measures were lifted during Wednesday's rally sparked a public outrage, with some people saying they were shocked that a routine weapons search was lifted at the front gates of Reunion Arena an hour before Obama took the stage.

"This relaxed security was unbelievably stupid, especially in Dallas," Jeff Adams of Berkeley, Calif., said in an e-mail, noting the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas more than four decades ago.

Others said they had attended other large political events recently where security screening was halted. Jeremy Dibbell said in an e-mail that he attended an Obama event in Boston and "the same thing happened there."

Nick Shapiro, a spokesman for Obama in Texas, said the campaign would have no comment. He referred questions to the Secret Service.

Eric Zahren, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said precautionary measures occurred as planned for the Obama rally. "There were no security lapses at that venue," Zahren said.

Seattle Times news services