THE SECRET SERVICE response to an armed intruder who jumped the fence and raced into the White House was complicated by muted alarms and radios, thick bushes on the lawn, unlocked doors and an officer inside who was physically too small to tackle the intruder and fumbled with her equipment, according to the Homeland Security Department review of the case.
A summary of the US government’s investigation released last night revealed dramatic new details about the 19 September break-in at the White House by a disturbed Army veteran carrying a knife.
The US government determined that lack of training, poor staffing decisions and communication problems contributed to the embarrassing failure.
The new report said White House intruder Omar Gonzalez cleared the fence where a trident, or ornamental spike, was missing.
An officer in the joint operations centre who tried to raise the alarm was unaware his warnings weren’t being broadcast to uniformed officers stationed at the executive mansion.
Some officers at a gate on Pennsylvania Avenue failed to see the fence-jumper because their view was obstructed by a construction project.
A Secret Service canine officer parked on the White House driveway was using the speaker function on his personal cellphone without his radio ear piece and a second, tactical radio was stashed away in his locker as Gonzalez made his way into the secure area.
Two officers wrongly assumed Gonzalez wouldn’t be able to get through thick bushes on the property. Another officer posted on the portico outside the wooden White House doors mistakenly assumed the doors were locked.
Gonzalez, 42, was able to run into the building before a female officer seated just inside the building could lock a second set of doors.
That officer tried twice to take Gonzalez down but was unable because she was smaller than the intruder. She reached for a metal baton but mistakenly grabbed a flashlight instead.
As she dropped the light and drew her gun, Gonzalez made his way into the East Room before heading back down a hallway on the State Floor deep within the White House.
Gonzalez was eventually tackled by another officer, who was helped by two plainclothes agents just finishing a shift, the report said.
Investigators also said members of an emergency response team didn’t know the layout of the White House and hesitated to go into the mansion after Gonzalez.
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