Secret Service chief boosts security outside White House

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

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.

Secret Service Director Julia Pierson ordered enhanced officer patrols and surveillance along the North Fence of the compound just after the incident Friday evening, which triggered a rare evacuation of the White House as well as renewed scrutiny of the Secret Service.

The agency said Pierson also had ordered a comprehensive review of what happened.

“The president has full confidence in the Secret Service and is grateful to the men and women who day in and day out protect himself, his family and the White House,” said White House spokesman Frank Benenati. He said the White House expected Pierson’s review to be conducted “with the same professionalism and commitment to duty that we and the American people expect from the U.S. Secret Service.”

The presidential vote of confidence came as the storied agency sought to dispel growing concerns about security at the White House, one of the most heavily protected buildings in the world. Another man was arrested Saturday outside the White House in an unrelated event.

President Barack Obama and his daughters had just left the White House by helicopter 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.

Officials originally had said that Gonzalez appeared unarmed as he sprinted across the lawn — potentially one reason agents didn’t shoot him or release their service dogs to detain him. But a law-enforcement official said Gonzalez had a small folding knife with him at the time of the arrest, and faces a weapons charge.

Less than 24 hours after Gonzalez’ arrest, a second man was apprehended after he drove up to a White House gate and refused to leave, the Secret Service said, prompting bomb technicians in full gear to search the vehicle as agents shut down nearby streets.

There were no indications the two events were connected.