Man Who Jumped White House Fence Had Knife; Secret Service Steps Up Security

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Secret Service chief has stepped-up security outside the White House after a man with a knife who jumped the fence made it into the presidential residence before being apprehended, officials said Saturday.
President Barack Obama insisted he still has confidence in the beleaguered agency's ability to protect him and his family.

Man Who Jumped White House Fence Had Knife; Secret Service Steps Up Security

so some loon made it into the residence with a blade....
were all the agents busy with facebook and twitter?
maybe they were watching the new j low butt video

According to a criminal complaint, when Gonzalez was apprehended he told Secret Service agents he was "concerned that the atmosphere was collapsing" and needed to contact the president "so he could get word out to the people."

^^^^^loony


i guess i can maybe understand how he made it so far. the article said that there has to be heavy ssecurity while also keeping the white house accessible to the public as it is a historical site..

i kind of get it but come on.......in 2014 a loon should not make it over the fence and across the lawn and into the house with a blade.

the article said he didnt appear to have a blade when he was running which is why they didnt shoot him or sick the dogs on... as careful as they are with the bomb squad checking cars that are in front and the ss bracing people that loiter in front too long. maybe they should pay a touch more attention to someone doing the carl lewis across the lawn

a reply to: CardiffGiant

Well that makes it a little clearer.

President Barack Obama and his daughters had just left the White House by helicopter on Friday evening when the Secret Service says 42-year-old Omar J. Gonzalez scaled the fence, darting across the lawn and through the unlocked North Portico doors before officers finally tackled him.

Did they give him a touchdown?

Only an idiot brings a knife to a gun fight...
Just sayin'

He was just going to the dining room to crave up that $100 a pound ham. Secret Service was downstairs playing the Wii.

For some reason when I think of the White House I imagine it as fake building on a movie set. And if someone were to enter the White House front door, they would soon find the exterior walls were just a facade made of plywood, plaster, and cardboard held up by raw wood framework on the inside, and find nothing in the interior except for a few Secret Service actors standing around the snack table eating and drinking before their next cue. Almost like the movie "The Trueman Show" where Trueman runs into a random building to find it's all fake, and behind the fake elevator doors exists a raw film set with actors and extras moving about.

I know I can go on a tour of the White House and see for myself. But I feel I will just be walked along a small predefined path, much like the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland, with chained off areas and closed doors, and strategically placed props laid about.

I feel it would be stupid to have the president actually live and stay in the White House, so its all just a front. A decoy.

This incident of the guy jumping over the fence and making it all the way to the residence before Secret Service get him also makes me think of "The Trueman Show". You know how the actors and producers thought Truman was too scared to leave town on a bus or boat, but when he actually faces his fears and tries to get on one, the actors scramble and don't know what to do.

It makes me laugh when I hear that the president and his family had "just left". Suuuuuree.

originally posted by: WeAre0ne.

It makes me laugh when I hear that the president and his family had "just left". Suuuuuree.

thats what i thought too. how convenient.

especially with the way the world is today i am thinking it is probably not the best idea to have the president live in a historical site with public access.
i know access is limited and they cant go into the oval office or the situation room but come on. i dont think its smart to have visitors...

I watched a couple idiot Fox News personalities today question why the man wasn't shot upon climbing the fence so they brought on an ex-Secret Service agent to ask him why they didn't execute the guy and the agent says, um, because we are not trained to kill mentally ill people climbing fences.

When I'm bored sometimes I play a game, I turn on Fox or CNN and watch as long as possible before I have to turn it off in disgust, I rarely make it more than 20 minutes on Fox and about 45 minutes on CNN.

originally posted by: Helious
I watched a couple idiot Fox News personalities today question why the man wasn't shot upon climbing the fence so they brought on an ex-Secret Service agent to ask him why they didn't execute the guy and the agent says, um, because we are not trained to kill mentally ill people climbing fences.

When I'm bored sometimes I play a game, I turn on Fox or CNN and watch as long as possible before I have to turn it off in disgust, I rarely make it more than 20 minutes on Fox and about 45 minutes on CNN.

im not so sure killing the guy would have been the answer.
there are lots of agents on the grounds. lots of cameras. lots of dogs. im sure there was at least 1 other alternative.

as for the ex agent. they didnt know he was mentally ill at the time.

So I guess they don't have any advanced alien technology protecting American assets after all...

originally posted by: CraftBuilder
So I guess they don't have any advanced alien technology protecting American assets after all...

Unnecessary. They only use the alien tech against other aliens. They can't have disruptors and phasers going off on the White House lawn. Use some common sense. Geez! J/K

a reply to: CardiffGiant

The Service seems to have tracked him across the lawn and to the house, so nobody was really in danger and they grabbed him right when he walked in. The main concern is the First Family, and since they had all left (hmmmm, were the dogs gone too?) this was in truth a minor incident which probably could not have happened with them there (except the dogs?). It's like someone running onto a sports field - the first person they usually come across clocks them to the ground, and then comes security to secure and remove them. Kind of a lost art, field running (I did it twice at a major league baseball park as a high schooler).

a reply to: Aleister

So the Secret Service has x-ray vision to see if he has a bomb under his clothes, in his shoes, or in his orifices while he is running towards the house. I see...

originally posted by: CardiffGiant

originally posted by: Helious
I watched a couple idiot Fox News personalities today question why the man wasn't shot upon climbing the fence so they brought on an ex-Secret Service agent to ask him why they didn't execute the guy and the agent says, um, because we are not trained to kill mentally ill people climbing fences.

When I'm bored sometimes I play a game, I turn on Fox or CNN and watch as long as possible before I have to turn it off in disgust, I rarely make it more than 20 minutes on Fox and about 45 minutes on CNN.

im not so sure killing the guy would have been the answer.
there are lots of agents on the grounds. lots of cameras. lots of dogs. im sure there was at least 1 other alternative.

as for the ex agent. they didnt know he was mentally ill at the time.

If they were trained anything like police, the guy would be shot to a pile of unidentifiable mash.

a reply to: WeAre0ne

Good point. A bomb, or a canister of evil-dust of some kind. But the only other option is to shoot the people as they start their run across the lawn, and that would be a non-starter in America where lots of loonies do loony things. So yes, the best way to stop them is to stop them on the lawn well away from the White House or other people.

originally posted by: Aleister
a reply to: CardiffGiant

The Service seems to have tracked him across the lawn and to the house, so nobody was really in danger and they grabbed him right when he walked in.

i dont agree. he had a knife and made it across the lawn and into the residence. thats dangerous.

anytime they 'track' someone that has just jumped the fence i think they should stop him as soon as possible.
stop does not mean kill or mutilate. it means stop.
im sure the secret service has ways to do that. if not then they are not as capable as people think they are.

if they bring out the bomb squad because they need to check a suspicious car because that car was parked in front of the house then imo they should stop the person that scales the fence.

jumping the fence is not the way one gets into the residence.

this is all just my opinion of course. i just dont get it.

originally posted by: WeAre0ne
a reply to: Aleister

So the Secret Service has x-ray vision to see if he has a bomb under his clothes, in his shoes, or in his orifices while he is running towards the house. I see...

no they dont. but they do have eyes. they can see him running towards the house. they have brains(i think). with those brains they could/should deduce that this guy jumped the fence and is running towards the house. pretty suspicious.

are they not supposed to investigate all suspicious activity?
is jumping the fence not suspicious?

and another thing. its not like its a 4 foot white picket fence or a chain link fence. its an iron fence. those fences dont make for an easy climb.
that alone should have raised enough suspicion to stop him...imo


the fence

a reply to: CardiffGiant

An aside after seeing your picture (and to climb those spikes on top might be quite the acrobatic trick), but did people know that the porticos - the columns - on the White House were added and designed by Thomas Jefferson? He did lots of stuff, and I'd guess that people ran across the lawn many a time to shake his hand.

a reply to: CardiffGiant

I think the poster wanted them to shoot him on sight because he may have had a hidden Butt Bomb.

originally posted by: CardiffGiant

WASHINGTON (AP) — .......President Barack Obama insisted he still has confidence in the beleaguered agency's ability to protect him and his family.

The border patrol also has the "ability" to do it's job, yet what happens? Fences. What can you say?

I know that Presidents typically don't care too much about things during their last year or so in office, but this guy is taking not caring to a whole new level. That's his house. His residence, and he's like "meh, whatever".