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Secret Service considers screening tourists outside White House, adding barriers Secret Service considers screening tourists outside White House, adding barriers
(about 1 hour later)
The U.S. Secret Service is weighing a series of ways to move tourists and D.C. residents farther away from the White House to cut down the chances of intruders piercing the White House security perimeter, as one man did on Friday night. After an unprecedented security breach Friday night at the White House, the U.S. Secret Service is weighing a series of measures that would move tourists and D.C. residents farther away from the complex and reduce the chances of intruders piercing its security perimeter and endangering the president.
Among the proposals after the embarrassing breach are keeping D.C. residents and tourists off the sidewalks around the White House fence and creating several yards of additional barrier around the perimeter. Another is to have tourists and visitors screened and checked as far as a block away from the area. One proposal is to keep D.C. residents and tourists off the sidewalks around the White House fence and create several yards of additional barrier around the compound’s perimeter. Another is to screen tourists and visitors as far as a block away from the White House entrance gates.
All of the ideas are “notional at this point,” said an official familiar with the talks. U.S. Secret Service Director Julia Pierson has told President Obama and his staff that she plans not only to order an internal review of how a man got into the front door of the White House without being stopped by Secret Service agents Friday evening, but also to take immediate steps to shore up security for the White House complex and the first family in the interim. The plans for enhanced security come after a Friday incident that exposed gaps in the Secret Service’s ability to secure the formal seat of the executive and the home of the first family. A man jumped over the White House fence just after 7:20 p.m., and was able to sprint unimpeded to the North Portico and enter the unlocked front door of the White House.
Just after the president left on his Marine One helicopter Friday evening, Omar J. Gonzalez, 42, allegedly jumped over the White House fence, sprinted across the North Lawn and entered the North Portico, the front doors of the White House, officials said. It happened less than 10 minutes after President Obama left on his Marine One helicopter, and officers responding to the alarm for a fence-jumping could not reach the intruder before he reached the mansion. When he stepped inside the foyer, an officer stationed there subdued him.
Fence jumping has become more common, and at times has been an almost monthly occurrence in the Secret Service’s duties. But Friday was the first time a fence jumper has gotten inside the executive residence. All of the security ideas being floated in the wake of the event are “notional at this point,” said an official familiar with the talks. The National Park Service controls much of the property on the border, so all ideas will have to be reviewed by multiple agencies, as well as the Obama administration.
The New York Times first reported Sunday that the Secret Service was considering screening visitors’ bags and ID farther away from the White House. But the incident has sounded alarms at all levels of the Secret Service. On Saturday, Julia Pierson, director of the Secret Service, advised Obama’s senior staff that she had begun an internal review of how the man entered the front door of the White House without being stopped, but also stressed that she will take immediate steps to shore up security at the complex. Extra officers were added, starting Saturday morning, to all shifts working on the North Lawn.
The Secret Service and every presidential administration has struggled to strike this admittedly awkward balance of both open and secure. They have worked to keep the White House compound a “hard target” but also give the American people the feeling that it is “the people’s house” and not an impenetrable fortress. Fence jumping has become more common at the White House, and at times the Secret Service has dealt with such occurrences almost monthly. But Friday was the first time a fence jumper has sprinted past officers on duty on the grounds and entered the executive residence.
The Secret Service has occasionally talked about fortifying the White House fence to keep out or discourage jumpers, and even to put barbed wire on the top. But that suggestion has been dismissed as giving the public the wrong impression of an open democracy and an accessible president. The New York Times first reported Sunday that the Secret Service was considering screening visitors’ bags and identification farther away from the White House.
Friday’s incident exposed numerous failings in the Secret Service’s security system, despite its sophistication and intricacies. A canine that is trained to knock over any intruder whom officers cannot reach was not released in this case. The Secret Service and every presidential administration has struggled to strike an admittedly awkward balance of keeping the White House both open and secure. They have worked to keep the compound a “hard target” but also to give the American people the feeling that it is “the people’s house” and not an impenetrable fortress.
Also Friday, the front door of the North Portico was unlocked, which is not often the case. The Secret Service has occasionally talked about fortifying the White House fence to keep out or discourage jumpers, and even to put barbed wire along the top. But that suggestion has been dismissed as giving the public a poor impression when most presidents want to project an image of being an accessible leader of an open democracy.
The Secret Service praised officers for using restraint and not shooting at the suspect. The agency trains officers not to shoot at an intruder unless they fear the person is armed or possibly wearing a bomb. On Friday, intruder was considered a low risk. But in fact, he was carrying a small knife. Authorities identified the jumper in this case as Omar J. Gonzalez, 42, of Texas. His family said he was an Iraq War veteran who served as a sniper. He was charged Saturday in D.C. Superior Court with trespassing and carrying a deadly weapon, a small knife.
The success the jumper had in entering the White House set off major alarms at the top of the Secret Service leadership, and dealt the struggling agency yet another public relations blow after it has been trying to recover from a prostitution scandal involving agents on a presidential trip to Cartagena, Colombia, in 2012. Current and former agents confided to friends they were shocked by the breach. They predicted it would lead to an overhaul in security protocols. His apparent success in entering the White House set off major alarms at the top of the Secret Service leadership, and dealt the struggling agency yet another public relations setback after it has been trying to recover from a prostitution scandal involving agents on a presidential trip to Cartagena, Colombia, in 2012. Current and former agents confided to friends that they were shocked by the breach. They predicted it would lead to an overhaul in security protocols.
On Saturday, the Secret Service began a review of the incident, and Pierson promised the findings will be forwarded to the Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson. Gonzalez, an Iraq War veteran whose family said he served as a sniper, allegedly sprinted more than 70 yards across the North Lawn without anyone reaching him. The results of the internal security review will be shared with Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.
When he stepped inside the front foyer, an officer stationed at that post grabbed and subdued him. He was charged Saturday in D.C. Superior Court with trespassing and carrying a deadly weapon. A family member of Gonzalez told The Washington Post that he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and had been living out of his car for more than a year. A Secret Service agent said Gonzalez told him after being handcuffed that he was concerned that the “atmosphere was collapsing” and that he needed to get the word to the president, so he could tell the citizens. It was unclear what Gonzalez meant.
A family member told The Washington Post that he was suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome and had been living out of his car for more than a year. A Secret Service agent said Gonzalez told him after being handcuffed that he was concerned that the “atmosphere was collapsing” and needed to get the word to the president, so he could tell the citizens. It was unclear what Gonzalez meant.