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Secret Service: White House break-in 'unacceptable' Secret Service: White House security plan 'failed'
(35 minutes later)
The director of the agency responsible for President Barack Obama's security says a break-in at the White House earlier this month was "unacceptable". The director of the US Secret Service says its security plan was "not properly executed" when a man broke into the White House this month, a lapse she said would never be repeated.
Secret Service Director Julia Pierson will tell a House committee such an incident will "never happen again", according to her prepared remarks. At a House oversight committee hearing, Julia Pierson took responsibility for the "unacceptable" breach.
Oversight committee chairman Darrell Issa said the 19 September intrusion was but one of several recent failures. She was addressing congressmen angry over the 19 September break-in.
Omar Gonzalez, 42, scaled a fence and was stopped well inside the mansion. Omar Gonzalez, 42, scaled a fence, ran across the lawn, entered an unlocked door and was tackled inside.
Mr Gonzalez, an Iraq war veteran, was only tackled when he ran into the East Room in the highly guarded home, unidentified officials have told multiple news outlets. Mr Gonzalez made it well into the first floor of the White House, having pushed his way past a guard standing just inside the unlocked door of the North Portico. He was tackled in the East Room, a long, ornately decorated chamber used for presidential addresses and formal receptions.
It was earlier reported he was stopped at the North Portico doors. "It is clear that our security plan was not executed properly," said Ms Pierson in testimony at the House Oversight committee hearing, where lawmakers of both parties expressed anger at a number of recent lapses by agency personnel and incidents of agents' misbehaviour.
The long, ornately decorated East Room is frequently used for presidential addresses and formal receptions. "I take full responsibility; what happened is unacceptable and it will never happen again."
Mr Obama and his family were not at the White House when the intrusion happened, having departed about 10 minutes earlier by helicopter. While acknowledging the recent failure, Ms Pierson said the agency's "emergency action plans" were "multifaceted and tailored to each threat".
The protective agency has undergone a review of its procedures in the wake of the breach and erected a temporary fence outside the famous US residence. She said that agents and uniformed officers had apprehended 16 people who had jumped over the White House fence over the past five years, including six in 2014 alone.
Mr Gonzalez, meanwhile, has been charged with unlawfully entering a restricted building or grounds while carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon. And she said they had dealt with hundreds of people who had approached the grounds and made verbal threats or acted suspiciously.
The Iraq War veteran was previously stopped by Virginia police in July. 'Lethal force'
Officers found two powerful rifles, four handguns and other firearms and ammunition in Mr Gonzalez's vehicle along with a map marking the White House. Ms Pierson said she had ordered a full review of White House security procedures and said "all decisions made that evening are being evaluated, including decisions on tactics and use of force".
An unnamed federal law enforcement official earlier told the Associated Press news agency Secret Service agents had interviewed Mr Gonzalez twice during the summer but concluded there was no evidence he was a security threat. Committee chairman Darrell Issa, a California Republican, said the White House complex was supposed to be one of the most secure places in the world but the breach had exposed serious problems in the protective agency.
"The system broke down on September 19 as it did when the Salahis crashed a state dinner in November 2009, or when Oscar Ortega-Hernandez successfully shot at the White House on November 2011, or when agents engaged in prostitution in Cartagena in April 2012, or when agents showed terrible judgment and got drunk in the Netherlands in March 2014," he said, referring to previous, well publicised breaches at the White House and scandals involving Secret Service agents.
Congressman Jason Chaffetz, a Republican, said he was concerned the Secret Service was sending mixed messages when it praised its officers for "tremendous restraint" following the 19 September incident.
"Tremendous restraint is not what we're looking for… the message should be overwhelming force," Mr Chaffetz, a Republican, said. "I want the Secret Service to know... if they have to take lethal action, I will have their back."
Democratic Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents the District of Columbia, said the issues facing the agency were not a "mere question of personnel" and called for a "21st Century makeover" of the agency.
Previously stopped
Mr Obama and his family were not at the White House when the latest intrusion happened, having departed about 10 minutes earlier by helicopter.
Mr Gonzalez has been charged with unlawfully entering a restricted building or grounds while carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon.
He was already known to authorities, having been stopped in Virginia in July. Then, officers found two powerful rifles, four handguns and other firearms and ammunition in his vehicle along with a map marking the White House.
And the Associated Press news agency has reported Secret Service agents interviewed Mr Gonzalez twice during the summer but concluded he was not a security threat.