The White House suffered a security breach when a man was able to jump over its fence and get to the front door of the mansion before being caught.
The intrusion, which happened on Sept. 19, caused a widespread evacuation of the White House as a security precaution. The breach happened just after President Barack Obama and his daughters left the White House for the weekend on the Marine One helicopter. They were going off to Camp David, which is the presidential retreat in Maryland.
First Lady Michelle Obama was also not at the White House during the incident, having already left earlier for Camp David.
The intruder was identified as 42-year-old Omar Gonzales from Texas, who was able to enter the mansion grounds at 7:20 p.m. EDT, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service.
The unarmed Gonzales reportedly ignored the commands of the Secret Service to stop moving before being caught at the White House's North Portico doors, which is one of the main entrances of the mansion. After Gonzales was arrested, he was escorted to a local hospital to be evaluated.
With Gonzales able to traverse the whole length of the grounds and reaching the North Portico doors before being apprehended, the security of the White House as guarded by the Secret Service has been placed under widespread criticism.
The White House is guarded by a massive force of Secret Service agents, with additional specialists such as snipers as part of the mansion's security.
"The Secret Service will review the response to ensure that the proper protocol was followed," said Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan.
According to Donovan, that Gonzales was able to make it to the North Portico doors is "not acceptable to us and it's going to be closely reviewed."
During the incident, officers of the Secret Service ordered staff members and journalists to evacuate the West Wing of the White House. They were given permission to come back in after some time, but there was still a partial lockdown in the building's northwest side that lasted for a few hours.
While incidents of civilians getting past the gates of the White House without permission have happened in the past, this particular case is alarming for the security of the presidential complex because of how far the intruder was able to make it before being caught.
"Unfortunately, they are failing to do their job," said Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, the chairman of the House subpanel on national security oversight, on the security lapse by the Secret Service. "These are good men and women, but the Secret Service leadership has a lot of questions to answer."
