In the history of mankind, many republics have risen, have flourished for a less or greater time, and then have fallen because their citizens lost the power of governing themselves and thereby of governing their state. TR

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White House Dossier

Fence Jumper Ran Through the East Room

This month’s wildly successful White House fence jumper made it even further into the building than previously suspected, racing half the length of the ground floor of the White House and then some before finally being tackled by a Secret Service agent.

At this point I’m kind of surprised he didn’t run upstairs, put on some of Malia’s makeup and start dancing on the Truman balcony.

I hope and assume Michelle has been giving people plenty of Hell. Because between this and a shooting at the White House in 2011 that the Secret Service didn’t even realize was a shooting for four days, I would imagine that the Obama family does not feel safe in its own home.

Here is the itinerary for Omar Gonzalez’s self-guided tour of the White House mansion:

White House ground floor

As you can see, Omar’s tour began in the Entrance Hall, where he was rudely greeted by a female Secret Service agent, whom he overpowered.

Now, it could be that this female agent was 6’2″, 210 pounds, but somehow I doubt it. I’m just saying.

At this point Omar’s tour took him into Cross Hall, the ornate red passageway you often see the president striding down as he heads to the East Room to give a press conference.

White-house-floor1-cross-Hall

Omar had the same destination, heading straight down the red carpet and into the East Room, though it presumably had not occurred to him to give a press conference.

Don’t worry, the dignity of the East Room has previously been trampled.

Michelle-East-Room-Biggest-Loser

It’s not clear what he did when he was in the East Room or how long he spent there – whether he ordered out for pizza, tried to put a photo up on Instagram, or something like that. Presumably he wasn’t there long, though, and he made a right and headed straight for the door to the Green Room.

And who wouldn’t want to see the Green Room? It’s exquisite.

greenroom

Tea, Mr. Gonzalez?

Other details are emerging about the incident. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who sits on the House Oversight Committee, said he has been told the alarms were turned off because the White House ushers found them annoying.

Presumably the same ushers who would leap under a couch at the first sign of trouble.

According to the Washington Post:

The Congressman said two people inside the agency told him that boxes were silenced because the White House usher staff, whose office is near the front door, complained that they were noisy. A Secret Service official told The Post that the usher’s office was concerned the boxes were frequently malfunctioning and unnecessarily sounding off.

There is also speculation that the dog trained to bring down White House fence jumpers wasn’t released because there were so many uniformed Secret Service officers pursuing Gonzalez that the dog might have attacked one of them instead.

Now, let’s be honest. That would have been hilarious.

I would add here a little context to all of this. There has been no serious attempt on a president’s life since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1982. That’s 32 years. Has there been a 32 year stretch without a direct assault on the president since Lincoln? I doubt it.

The Secret Service must be doing some things right. Still, it’s a government agency. And like all government agencies, it must by definition contain its share on incompetence and Catch-22’s.

I would be very surprised if a fence jumper at the private estate of Steve Jobs could make it into the house.

Secret Service Director Julia Pierson will testify this morning at 10:00 am before the House Oversight Committee about White House security. I will live stream it.

33 thoughts on “Fence Jumper Ran Through the East Room”

  1. Stephen

    Follow the leader here I think.
    The SS and White House staff see a do-nothing President and they themselves transform into a bunch of slackers themselves.

  3. RB

    I’m curious as to which scenario people think accurately describes this situation.
    1. Omar was one lucky dude to make it that far.
    2. The SS let Omar go because they are sending BO a message.
    3. The SS let Omar go because they want something else in the news cycle.
    4. The SS and WH staff IS that incompetent at times.
    5. Omar executed a highly planned run to highlight security deficiencies.
    6. The same people running the southern border are in charge at the WH.

      1. Lee

        #1, #3, #4, #6 and just possibly #5.
        Lord knows what he was up to. He may have made a bet of how far he would get. He may need help, which was not given to him, because of lack of sources at the VA.

  4. Lee

    I heard this early this morning as I was having my morning coffee. I did a double take at the TV, to read it on the bottom of the screen, because I thought maybe, I misunderstood that SOMEONE MADE IT ALL THE WAY TO G. ROOM. Than as always to find out that we were given incorrect information, that he had only made it to the front door.
    They do not know how to protect the people there, and everyone keeps buying the crud of our N. security.
    Just for note: Remember that party they had there, where two people just walked on in? This crew likes the term, Walk In. Sounds familiar to the border.

  5. srdem65

    How sadly typical – if something bad or untoward happens, lie about it.
    They knew there was video of the man running towards the WhiteHouse, so they couldn’t just cover up the whole incident, so they lied.

    They lied about their failure, just as their boss lies about his failures.

  9. Mr. T.

    Sorry to nitpick, but Reagan was shot in March 1981…he had only been president for two months.

    Amazing this guy basically waltzed right in – at my condo building, he would have never made it past my doorman!

  10. Knuckledraggingwino

    I’d the Secret Service are worried about being bit by SS dogs, perhaps they could recruit a pack of Pomeranians to defend the President and his familily. Then again if those Belgian Malinois are so unreliable, they are the perfect dogs for the job.

  13. Girly1

    Looking at the Gonzalez mug shot that keeps flashing on the screen, he reminds me of Bergdahl’s father with that scruffy looking Islamist goatee/beard thingy. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.

  15. creeper

    Did you notice that both of the recent intruders were Hispanic? Ortega-Hernandez first and now Gonzalez. That strikes me as more than coincidental.

    If this is a red herring I wouldn’t be surprised. Dog knows Hispanics owe Barry a lot. What better way to repay the debt than to pretend he’s endangered, thus triggering vast sympathy among the voters?

    This is not what it seems on the face of it.

    1. srdem65

      Yes, she did. At the time, all that crossed anyone’s mind is that if he was indeed shot “at the gas station” it would be another Black man doing the shooting. (DC shooters/Chicago gangs).

  18. Scottso

    I think any building, home or residence can be broken into.
    The SecretService has taken care of all threats to the Presidents and other staff.
    However, this is a serious problem because of the ease of the attack.

    Lord knows it could have been a suicide bomber.
    Or bombers.

    I personally don’t see the hilarity of the situation.

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