Latest Politics News and Updates: Intruder Made It Through White House Doors, Secret Service Says

Friday, September 19, 2014

Intruder Made It Through White House Doors, Secret Service Says - New York Times

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Politics |Intruder Made It Through White House Doors, Secret Service Says

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Politics |â€‹â€‹NYT Now

WASHINGTON â€” A Texas man who scaled the White House fence made it through the North Portico doors on Friday night before being apprehended, the Secret Service said.

The intruder, Omar J. Gonzalez, 42, was arrested just inside the doors and taken to George Washington University Hospital after complaining of chest pains, said Ed Donovan, a Secret Service spokesman.

None of the Obamas were home when the security breach occurred about 7:20 p.m., but White House staff members were evacuated as a precaution, officials said. President Obama and his daughters had left for the presidential retreat at Camp David, Md., just minutes before the incident.

Mr. Gonzalez, of Copperas Cove, Tex., was not armed and was not carrying a bag or a backpack when officials spotted him jumping the fence on the Pennsylvania Avenue side, Mr. Donovan said. He ignored several calls for him to stop as officers gave chase.

No shots were fired and the White House guard dogs were not called out to stop him.

White House fence-jumpings are not unheard-of, but the intruders are almost always tackled on the North Lawn and almost never get near the White House itself. Mr. Donovan said the incident was being investigated and reviewed.

Mr. Gonzalezâ€™s dash to the White House was the second such security breach this month. On Sept. 11, a man was taken into custody after he also jumped the fence. And in August, a toddler slipped through the fence bars; officers quickly returned him to his parents.

Security Service officials said they could prevent such intrusions by shutting down Pennsylvania Avenue to pedestrians. The section of the thoroughfare in front of the White House was closed to traffic after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 but remains open to pedestrians. It is often clogged with tourists and is a favorite site for protests.