The case of the man who jumped the White House fence last week and made it all the way up to the White House residence door is becoming more shocking by the minute as more details emerge. It’s clear this wasn’t just some nutcase who jumped the fence. It was a vet who had a knife on him and — according to new reports — 800 rounds of ammunition in his car.[icopyright one button toolbar]
The man who jumped the White House fence and made it through the front door before being stopped had 800 rounds of ammunition in his car, federal prosecutors said on Monday.
Omar Gonzalez, 42, also had two hatchets and a machete in his car, parked blocks away, prosecutors said in federal court, according to The Washington Post.
The embarrassing breach has put the Secret Service under scrutiny and raised new questions about security protocols. The suspect had crossed paths before with law enforcement.
In July, Gonzalez, originally from Texas, was arrested for carrying a sawed-off shotgun and a map with the White House circled on it, according to prosecutors.
The Post also reported that the Secret Service spoke with Gonzalez in August when they saw him with a hatchet in his pants near the White House, searched his car, but found nothing suspicious and released him.
According to an affidavit, Gonzalez told the Secret Service after being caught jumping the fence on Friday that the “atmosphere was collapsing” and he needed to tell the president. The affidavit said Gonzalez had a folding knife with a three-and-a-half-inch blade in his pants pocket.
The Secret Service is conducting a review of its security procedures and weighing extending the safety perimeter around the White House.
Gonzalez is charged with unlawfully entering a restricted building or grounds with a “deadly or dangerous weapon.” The charge carries a sentence of up to 10 years.
The agency has a policy of not shooting fence jumpers if they do not appear to be armed.
Can they use tasers?
Too brutal?
How about water pistols…
The Secret Service is caught in a kind of pincer: they need to provide security for the number one leader in the world who is the dream-target for political assassins, Twilight Zoners, and just plain losers who want to make a statement or a name for themselves. And the White House is still supposed to be “the people’s house.”
But is that outdated? Just as a great comedy punchline would be to call the U.S. government these days “the people’s government” (“lobbyists’ and billionaire campaign contributors government” might be more accurate), this is the 21st century with a slew of terrorists groups that would love to take out an American President. The Peoples’ House may have to be a bit less accessible — extend the no-man’s land, search entrants more thoroughlym and do some form of shooting or disabling if someone jumps the fence — if a future or very-near-in-the-future tragedy is to be averted.
And wo we’ll get (yet more) House hearings. The Huffington Post:
House committee will hold a hearing next week to examine how the U.S. Secret Service failed to prevent an armed intruder from hopping the White House gate Friday night and making it all the way into the entrance of President Barack Obama’s residence.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, announced Monday the panel will meet Sept. 30 to discuss Secret Service security protocols. Secret Service Director Julia Pierson has been invited to testify.
Let me guess: the hearing will be titled “White House Intruders and Benghazi.” MORE:
“The recent intrusion of an individual into the White House is the latest in a string of high profile incidents for the Secret Service,” Issa said in a statement. “These significant security breaches reveal our weaknesses as well as our response capabilities to our nation’s enemies. I look forward to hearing from Secret Service Director Pierson, in light of scandals ranging from the Salahis to Cartagena, about what steps the agency is taking under her leadership to improve security and put an end to dangerous embarrassments.”
More than 800 rounds of ammunition were found in the car of the alleged White House intruder, who has been identified as Omar Jose Gonzalez, 42, of Texas. The New York Times reported Monday that Gonzalez, who was carrying a knife when he broke into the White House, had been arrested by Virginia police in July with several weapons and a map of the White House in his possession.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said during his Monday briefing that the Secret Service has already made changes to its procedures, including beefed up foot patrols and additional surveillance around the building. The agency has begun a broader review of polices to assess how the intrusion happened.
Meanwhile, Obama has made a point of praising the Secret Service:
President Barack Obama expressed confidence Monday in the Secret Service, as authorities launched inquiries into how an armed man made it to the front door of the White House, a man with hundreds of rounds of ammunition in his nearby car and an alleged history of interest in the executive mansion.
As the Secret Service and Congress launched an investigation of security after the intruder, armed with a knife, scaled a fence and bounded into the White House, Obama praised the Secret Service during an event in the Oval Office, saying he was “grateful for all the sacrifices they make on my behalf and on my family’s behalf.”
His expression of support came as a federal prosecutor revealed that investigators found more than 800 rounds of ammunition in the car of the accused intruder, Omar J. Gonzalez, 42, along with a machete and two hatchets.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.