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Man leaps over White House fence
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THE United States Secret Service is under intense scrutiny after a man who hopped the White House fence made it all the way through the front door before being apprehended.
President Barack Obama and his daughters had just left the building on Friday evening when an intruder scaled the north fence, darted across the lawn and into the presidential residence, where agents nabbed him. The security breach triggered a rare evacuation of much of the White House, with Secret Service officers drawing their guns as they rushed staffers and journalists out a side door.
For the Secret Service, the incident was a devastating episode that prompted fresh questions about the agency and its ability to protect the president. The Republican Party’s Jason Chaffetz, who chairs the House of Representatives’ subpanel on national security oversight, called it “totally unacceptable.” “Unfortunately, they are failing to do their job,” Chaffetz said. “The Secret Service leadership has a lot of questions to answer.”
The Service said the incident will be reviewed to ensure protocols were followed.
The man in jeans and a dark shirt who scaled the fence appeared to be unarmed, but ignored commands from officers to halt, Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said.
He was tackled just inside the doors of the North Portico, the grand entrance that looks out over Pennsylvania Avenue. A search of the suspect turned up no weapons.
The man was later named as 42-year-old Texan Omar Gonzalez. He was charged with unlawful entry into the White House complex and transported to a nearby hospital complaining of chest pain.
Though it’s not uncommon for people to make it over the White House fence, they’re typically stopped almost immediately. Video from the scene showed Gonzalez sprinting across the lawn as Secret Service agents shouted at pedestrians to clear the area.
“This situation was different ... there will be a thorough investigation,” Donovan said.
Only minutes before the breach, Obama had boarded his helicopter with his daughters for a getaway to Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland.
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