[h=1]A dog handler chatting on his cell phone and garbled radio traffic: The damning Secret Service failures that allowed White House fence jumper to make it inside the President's home[/h]
Military veteran Omar Gonzalez jumped the White House fence and made it into the president's residence on September 19
He came into contact with several Secret Service agents on the lawn but none were able to stop him from running into the White House
One of the officers with an attack dog didn't respond to the breach because he didn't have his ear radio in and was taking a personal phone call
The man who jumped the White House fence and made it all the way to the East Room in September did so because of a dozen Secret Service fumbles, including an officer on the North Lawn who was too busy talking on his phone to notice the breach. Omar Gonzalez made it past scores of officers when he jumped the fence the evening of September 19 and ran across the lawn, breaking into the White House through the front door before finally being tackled by two officers clocking out of their shift. The military veteran was just one of five who have eluded security and made it on the lawn at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave this year, leading to the disgraceful resignation of Secret Service director Julia Pierson in October.
However, he was the only one to make it inside the White House.
On Thursday, Congress was briefed by the Department of Homeland Security on the errors that led to Gonzalez's breach of security, and the New York Times reported the findings after obtaining a summary of the findings not yet released to the public. Gonzalez's history with the Secret Service goes all the way back to July 19, two months before the day he broke into the White House, when he was stopped in Virginia and a search of his car uncovered 11 firearms, including an illegal shotgun and a map of DC with the White House highlighted. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives informed the Secret Service about the incident, but the office did not further investigate Gonzalez at the time. An investigation was opened into Gonzalez though when a report was filed by federal, state and local law enforcement officials in Virginia.
Jumper: Omar Gonzalez successfully made it into the White House on September 19 due to a series of mistakes made by the Secret Service, according to a report given to Congress on Thursday
Put the phone down: The report showed that one officer stationed on the North Lawn with an attack dog didn't respond to the breach because he didn't have his ear piece in and was on a personal call. Above, a map of Gonzalez's route into the White House
+5
Dash: A video of the incident shows Gonzalez running towards the White House after getting past plainclothes security guards outside the fence. SWAT teams and an attack dog failed to stop him on the lawn
A month later, officers spotted Gonzalez outside the White House walking around with a hatchet tucked into his pants, but let him go because he was not breaking any laws. They reported his name however to headquarters and learned he was the subject of an investigation. A few minutes later, they went back to interview Gonzalez and found 'several empty firearms cases, four hatches, several bottles of urine and camping gear' in his car, but again could do nothing because he still wasn't violating the law. A month later, the day of the breach, Gonzalez was again spotted outside the White House gate around 6pm, but officers didn't stop him because he wasn't acting odd at the time.
.
An hour later, Gonzalez quickly jumped over the fence at a point in the gate where there wasn't any ornamental spikes on the posts to slow him down. Officers were then slow to respond to the intruder because of 'unintelligent traffic of the radio'. Others had a hard time figuring out where the intruder was due to construction on the north grounds. One of the officers stationed on the North Lawn with an attack dog, didn't even hear the reports because he didn't have his ear piece on and was taking a personal call. He also didn't have his other radio on him, which was instead stored in his locker.
+5
Disgrace: Gonzalez is just one of five people who have made it past security at the White House this year, leading Secret Service Director Julia Pierson to resign in shame
That officer only noticed Gonzalez when he saw two officers running towards the intruder on the lawn. By that time it was too late to get the dog 'locked onto' the target. Those first two Secret Service officers pointed their guns at Gonzalez, but the man continued past them towards the North Portico. They decided not to shoot because they believed he was unarmed. It was later revealed that he had a knife. From there, Gonzalez went into the bushes near the portico, and the officers stopped following him because they believed the bushes were too thick to pass through. They ended up being wrong and Gonzalez made it out on the other side, just feet from the front door. An officer stationed at the front door decided to hide behind a pillar with his weapon, to take Gonzalez by surprise and because he thought the front door to the White House was locked anyway.
+5
Hearing: This courtroom artist rendering shows Judge Deborah Robinson, left, presiding during White House fence jumper Omar J. Gonzalez's , center, case in court in Washington last month
He pointed his gun at Gonzalez when the man arrived on the front steps, but again Gonzalez would not take orders and the officer decided not to shoot. Surprisingly to that officer, the front door was indeed open and Gonzalez made it into the White House's Central Hall where a female officer tried to stop him. Gonzalez knocked that officer down and then proceeded to the East Room, before turning back around. Soon after, a pair of officers who just ended their shift tackled Gonzalez and finally brought him into custody. No Secret Service officers or agents have been disciplined yet in connection to the breach. That will likely happen after the larger investigation is finished. After hearing the report on Thursday, members of Congress expressed their disappointment in the agency in charge of insuring the president's safety. 'This report indicates that the Secret Service’s response at the White House was significantly hampered on September 19th because of critical and major failures in communications, confusion about operational protocols, and gaps in staffing and training. While some of these problems can be attributed to a lack of resources, others are systemic and indicative of Secret Service culture,' Rep Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi told the Washington Post. 'Some of these problems have begun to be addressed, however it is imperative that DHS follows through on these findings and institutes real reforms.'
