Guest post by Kristinn Taylor
Omar Gonzalez jumped the White House fence and made it through the North Portico doors on Friday. (WPTV)
The Secret Service issued a statement Saturday on the security breach at the White House Friday where a man jumped the fence and was able to run in to the White House before being captured by Secret Service officers.
Amazingly, the statement by the Secret Service praises the officers who allowed the man to run unmolested across the lawn to the North Portico entrance for showing “tremendous restraint and discipline” but did at least acknowledge that allowing him inside the doors to the White House was “not acceptable”.
“Although last night the officers showed tremendous restraint and discipline in dealing with this subject, the location of Gonzalez’s arrest is not acceptable.”
That the intruder wasn’t shot as he neared the White House may come as a surprise in the age of Islamist terrorist attacks on the United States homeland that commenced on 9/11 and the government’s fear of ‘lone wolf’ attacks. That he wasn’t shot may encourage ISIS terrorists who The Gateway Pundit reported last month threatened the White House in a tweet that purported to show an ISIS supporter displaying the ISIS flag on a smartphone in front of the White House.
The Washington Post reported a source said that a sniper had the intruder in his sights ‘just in case’ but did not shoot.
A former Secret Service agent told Fox News that protocol is to not shoot an intruder who appears unarmed. Dan Bongino told Fox he was concerned that the Secret Service’s trained dogs were not released to stop the intruder.
The Post also reported the government says the intruder was armed with a 2 ½ inch folding knife.
The intruder was identified by the government as Omar Gonzalez, 42, of Copperas Cove, Texas. The Post reported Gonzalez is a homeless Iraq war veteran who was a sniper. Gonzalez reportedly told agents who apprehended him he was trying to warn President Obama that the “atmosphere was collapsing”. Obama had left the White House for a weekend at Camp David just minutes before the incident.
