The White House intruder who jumped a security fence on Friday and
got inside the presidential mansion was carrying a knife, according to
the criminal complaint obtained by Fox News and contrary to initial
reports that the man was unarmed.
According to the complaint
filed in federal court, 42-year-old Omar J. Gonzales, of Copperas Cove,
Texas, had a concealed black folding knife when Secret Service agents
apprehended him inside the north White House door that faces
Pennsylvania Avenue.
After he was arrested, he told a Secret Service agent that "he was
concerned the atmosphere was collapsing and needed to get the
information to the President of the United States so he could get the
word out to the people," the document says.
The incident Friday occurred at 7:20 p.m. on the north side of the
White House, along Pennsylvania Avenue, about four minutes after
President Obama, his two daughters and a friend departed in helicopter
Marine One from the South Lawn for a weekend trip to Camp David.
First lady Michelle Obama had already departed separately to the western Maryland presidential retreat.
The security breach was followed less than 24 hours later by a New
Jersey man driving up to a White House gate and refusing to leave, and
Secret Service Director Julia Pierson saying enhanced security and
surveillance were put in place overnight and that she has ordered a full
investigation of the Friday night security breech
The incident Saturday occurred at about 3 p.m. when the man
approached one of the White House gates on foot. He later showed up at
another gate in a car and pulled into the vehicle screening area, said
agency spokesman Ed Donovan.
When the man refused to leave, he was placed under arrest and charged
with unlawful entry. The suspect has been identified as Kevin Carr,
from Shamong, N.J.
Just hours after the Saturday arrest, Secret Service Director Julia
Pierson said security and surveillance capabilities along the
Pennsylvania Avenue fence line had been increased overnight. And she
announced that she has ordered the agency’s Office of Professional
Responsibility to conduct a “comprehensive, after-action review of the
incident.”
The findings will be submitted to Department of Homeland Secretary Jeh Johnson.
“The location of Gonzalez’s arrest is not acceptable,” Pierson said. Her announcement made no reference to the second arrest.
White House spokesman Frank Benenati said within minutes of Pierson’s
announcement that the president has “full confidence in the Secret
Service and is grateful to the men and women” protect him, his family
and the White House.
Benenati also said the White House is certain the review will be done
“with the same professionalism and commitment to duty” that all
Americans expect from the Secret Service.
A former agent told Fox News earlier Saturday that if an intruder is not armed, then agents are “not supposed to shoot him."
The ex-agent also said a sure-footed intruder can jump the fence and
reach the White House front doors in about five seconds, especially if
he or she enters between the two front-gate command posts.
Gonzalez was arrested and taken to George Washington Hospital for
medical evaluation, said agency spokesman Brian Leary. He also said
Gonzalez ignored commands to stop and continued through the doors.
On Saturday morning, law enforcement officials conducted a
shoulder-to-shoulder sweep of the White House’s north lawn as well as
the plaza in front of the iconic building and adjacent Lafayette Park,
searching for evidence in connection with the Friday incident.
The breach Friday 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.
It also prompted fresh questions about the storied agency and its ability to protect the president.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairman of a House subcommittee on
national security oversight, initially called the incident "totally
unacceptable" and just one in a series of security failings on the
Secret Service's watch.
On Saturday afternoon, he sounded no less if not more concerned.
"You jump the fence, you're going to get shot," he said. "People are
going to jump the fence. But to make it unimpeded all the way into the
White House is unacceptable. ... The front door was wide open. ... I
have a lot of questions for (Secret Service) leadership."
On Saturday, Bomb technicians, fully suited, could be seen looking
through a white four-door sedan with New Jersey plates and pulling out
what appeared to be keys. Streets near the White House were temporarily
closed as officers responded, but the White House was not locked down.
Although it's not uncommon for people to make it over the White House
fence, they're typically stopped almost immediately and rarely get very
far. Video from the scene showed the intruder sprinting across the lawn
as Secret Service agents shouted at nearby pedestrians to clear the
area.
"This situation was a little different than other incidents we have
at the White House," Donovan said. "There will be a thorough
investigation into the incident."
It was unclear this weekend whether any other fence-jumpers have ever
made it into the White House, one of the most highly protected
buildings in the world. But Friday's incident was just the latest
setback for an elite agency whose reputation has suffered a succession
of blows in recent years.
In 2012, 13 Secret Service agents and officers were implicated in a
prostitution scandal during preparations for Obama's trip to Cartagena,
Colombia. The next year, two officers were removed from the president's
detail after another alleged incident of sexually-related misconduct.
And in March, an agent was found drunk by staff at a Dutch hotel the day
before Obama was set to arrive in the Netherlands.
Obama appointed the agency's first female director last year as a
sign he wanted to change the culture and restore public confidence in
its operations. An inspector general's report in December found no
evidence of widespread misconduct.
The Secret Service has struggled in recent years to strike the
appropriate balance between ensuring the first family's security and
preserving the public's access to the White House grounds. Once open to
vehicles, the stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House
was confined to pedestrians after the Oklahoma City bombing, but
officials have been reluctant to restrict access to the area further.
Evacuations at the White House are extremely rare. Typically, when
someone jumps the White House fence, the compound is put on lockdown and
those inside remain in place while officers respond. Last week, the
Secret Service apprehended a man who jumped over the same stretch of
fence on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, prompting officers to
draw their firearms and deploy service dogs as they took the man into
custody.
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