Showing posts with label Omar Gonzalez. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Omar Gonzalez. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Will anyone get fired?

September 30, 2014 Intruder , Omar Gonzalez 0 Comments
Is Barack Obama's Life Safe In The Secret Service's Hands?

President Obama and Secret Service security detail
Source:  www.examiner.com
By Raf Sanchez, Sept. 29, 2014, Telegraph.co.uk

A knife-wielding intruder allowed to run rampant through the first floor of the White House. Bullets that struck the window of Barack Obama's private residence but went unnoticed for days. A presidential bodyguard so drunk he passed out in hallway of a hotel.

These are just some of the recent incidents that have shaken confidence in the Secret Service, the elite agency assigned to protect Mr Obama, his family and the White House.

On Tuesday, Julia Pierson, the Secret Service's director, will face a grilling from members of Congress and a battle to convince them that her agents are up to the task of protecting the world's most powerful man.

The hearing was called after a September 19 incident, when the Secret Service allowed Omar Gonzales, a troubled Iraq war veteran, to scale the White House fence and go through the unlocked front door of the executive mansion.

Read the full story:  www.telegraph.co.uk

Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook
By - No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,
Alarming, scary, inexcusable!

Alarming, scary, inexcusable!

September 30, 2014 Carol D. Leonning , Intruder 0 Comments
White House Intruder Was Tackled By Off-Duty Secret Service


By Carol D. Leonning, Sept. 30, 2014, Washingtonpost.com

The man who jumped over the White House fence and sprinted through the main floor of the mansion could have gotten even farther had it not been for an off-duty Secret Service agent who was coincidentally in the house and leaving for the night.

The agent who finally tackled Omar Gonzalez had been serving on the security detail for President Obama’s daughters and had just seen the family depart via helicopter minutes earlier. He happened to be walking through the house when chaos broke out and the intruder dashed through the main foyer, according to two people familiar with the incident.

Gonzalez, 42, was the first person in modern memory to jump over the White House fence and get into the mansion, largely the result of a failure of numerous layers of Secret Service security on the northern fence line.

Though the Secret Service initially said that Gonzalez was quickly detained inside the front door, The Washington Post reported Monday that the man actually made it well into the house before he was tackled on the far southern side of the 80-foot-long East Room. Once he burst inside the unlocked front door, Gonzalez, an Army veteran, overpowered one Secret Service officer and, on his journey, sprinted past a stairway that leads up half a flight to the first family’s living quarters.

Read the full story:  www.washingtonpost.com

Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook
By - No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Well liked, good rep

September 25, 2014 Intruder , Ocregister.com 0 Comments
White House Intruder Attended Orange Calif High School

Omar J. Gonzalez
Source:  www.allgov.com
By Scott Schwebke, Sept. 22, 2014, Ocregister.com

ORANGE – A former soldier accused of scaling a White House fence and making his way inside Friday with a knife attended Orange High School and played on the school’s football team, according to several classmates and a former coach.

Omar J. Gonzalez, 42, of Copperas Cove, Texas, was a member of the Class of ’91, several classmates said on Facebook.

“Holy crap!! Omar Gonzalez, class of 91 was the White House intruder!,” one Facebook poster said. “I am in total shock!”

Tom Meiss, football head coach at Orange in 1989 and ’90, was contacted Monday where he recalled Gonzalez’s playing days at Orange High. He said he was unaware that Gonzalez was a suspect in the White House incident until contacted by a Register reporter.

Gonzalez was a junior reserve fullback/linebacker on the 1989 team that lost to Trabuco Hills in the CIF-Southern Section Division 8 championship game, Meiss said.

“I think he was a fullback and linebacker,” said Meiss, who has not had contact with Gonzalez since graduation. “He doesn’t jump out in my memory as one of our star players. He wasn’t a problem, he wasn’t any trouble. He just seemed like just another guy.”

Read the full story:  www.ocregister.com

Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook
By - No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Still vulnerable

Still vulnerable

September 23, 2014 Carol D. Leonnig , Intruder 0 Comments
WaPo: White House’s Fence Vulnerability Was Pinpointed In 1990s Mock Attack

By Carol D. Leonnig and Spencer S. Hsu, Sept. 22, 2014, Washingtonpost.com


The Secret Service commissioned a classified mock attack two decades ago that found an easy way to pierce the White House security zone: Overwhelm Secret Service officers on the compound with six to eight attackers climbing over the fence at the same time.

That vulnerability remains, despite the creation of specially trained counterassault and surveillance teams recommended at the time, according to government officials who were briefed on the findings and requested anonymity to discuss sensitive information.

Securing the White House grounds has been further complicated over the past two years by severe staffing shortages and high turnover rates in the officer division tasked with patrolling the compound, according to these officials.

On Monday, federal prosecutors alleged that a man who jumped the fence and ran into the White House on Friday was keeping 800 rounds of ammunition, two hatchets and a machete in his car, which was parked blocks away.

A prosecutor also said that the man, Omar Jose Gonzalez, 42, had been arrested in Wythe County, Va., in July while carrying a sawed-off shotgun and several other firearms, as well as a map with a line pointing toward the White House. And in August, Secret Service officers saw Gonzalez near the south fence of the White House, carrying a hatchet in the back waistband of his pants. Gonzalez agreed to let the officers search his vehicle, where they found camping gear and two dogs, then released him, a prosecutor said.

Read the full story:  www.washingtonpost.com

Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook
By - No comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,

Monday, September 22, 2014

The Gore effect

September 22, 2014 Intruder , Mental Illness 0 Comments
WH Fence Jumper Was 'Concerned That The Atmosphere Was Collapsing' And Wanted To Alert President 

By Anthony Watts, Sept. 20, 2014, Wattsupwiththat.com

Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary identified the fence-jumper as Omar J. Gonzalez, 42, of Copperas Cove, Texas. According to court documents, he was carrying a folding knife with a 3.5-inch serrated blade.

Gonzalez faces federal charges of entering a restricted building while carrying a weapon, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. A U.S. District Court magistrate judge in Washington today ordered him held without bond pending a hearing Sept. 22.

Margarita O’Donnell, a lawyer representing Gonzalez at a court appearance today, said he served 18 years in the military, including three tours in Iraq, and reported living in the Washington area for about three months.

Gonzalez told Secret Service agents he was “concerned that the atmosphere was collapsing” and wanted to alert the president, according to an affidavit filed with the court.

Source: Business Week

One wonders if he was a member of 350.org or some other similar climate propaganda organization.

Or maybe he simply got the idea from NASA: A Puzzling Collapse of Earth’s Upper Atmosphere

Read the full story:  www.wattsupwiththat.com

Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook
By - No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Sunday, September 21, 2014

He sure got CLOSE!

He sure got CLOSE!

September 21, 2014 Intruder , Iraq 0 Comments
Iraq War Vet Arrested After Allegedly Jumping WH Fence Had PTSD: Stepson



 Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook
By - No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Treated for PTSD--and sent back to Iraq?

September 21, 2014 Fox News , Intruder 0 Comments
Alleged White House Intruder Is Decorated Iraq Combat Vet

FILE: This photo provided by Jerry Murphy
shows Omar Gonzalez, who authorities have
 identified as the man who got into the
White House after scaling a fence. (AP)
By Fox News, Sept. 21, 2014, Foxnews.com

The Texas man accused of dashing through the White House front door Friday with a folding knife is a decorated Army veteran and marksman who served in Iraq, the U.S. military said Sunday.

Omar Jose Gonzalez, who is being held in connection with illegally trying to enter the White House complex, served more than 13 years over the course of two Army stints.

The 42-year-old Gonzalez was discharged in 2003 after serving six years and completing his military service obligation. He retired in 2012 as a result of a disability, after serving roughly seven more years, according to his military record.

The military does not provide details about a soldier's disability due to privacy considerations.

Gonzales, of Copperas Cove, Texas, allegedly jumped the White House fence along Pennsylvania Avenue at 7:20 p.m. Friday, then crossed the North Lawn and opened the mansion’s front door before being apprehended by a Secret Service police officer standing guard.

President Obama, his two daughters and a friend had left minutes before on helicopter Marine One for Camp David. First lady Michelle Obama had departed earlier for the western Maryland presidential retreat.

Read the full story:  www.foxnews.com

Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook
By - No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

That was easy!!

September 21, 2014 Abcnews.com , Arlette Saenez 0 Comments
White House Intruder Had Knife, Claims To Be Iraq Vet

By Arlette Saenez, Sept. 20, 2014, Abcnews.com

The man who jumped over a White House fence and made it all the way inside the executive mansion before being caught was carrying a 3 1/2-inch knife and told officials he was a veteran of three tours in Iraq, according to the complaint released today.

In the wake of the incident Friday night, the Secret Service announced it is stepping up its security procedures at the White House complex.

Secret Service Director Julia Pierson ordered an immediate increase in "officer patrols and surveillance capabilities along the Pennsylvania Avenue fence line" of the White House complex, the Secret Service said Saturday.

The steps went into effect Friday night after Omar Gonzalez, 42, scaled the White House fence, sprinted across the North Lawn, and entered the White House.

White House Partially Evacuated as Fence Jumper Gets Into Executive Mansion

The Secret Service dealt with a second security incident in as many days on Saturday after a man was arrested at the White House after trying to enter a barricaded entrance to the White House complex with his car.

Gonzalez was arrested just after going through the North Portico doors of the White House. He appeared at the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. today and was charged with unlawful entry while in possession of a deadly or dangerous weapon.

Gonzalez was carrying a three and a half inch Spyderco VG-10 black serrated folding knife in his front pants pocket when he was arrested, according to a police affidavit.

On Friday, Secret Service Spokesman Ed Donovan had initially said Gonzalez was unarmed at the time of his arrest.

Read the full story:  www.abcnews.go.com

Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook
By - No comments:
Labels: , , , ,