The director of the U.S. Secret Service offered an apology on Tuesday for security lapses that allowed a knife-wielding intruder to get into the White House through an unlocked door, down a hallway and into the East Room.
‘It is clear that our security plan was not executed properly,’ Secret Service Director Julia Pierson told lawmakers. ‘I take full responsibility; what happened is unacceptable and it will never happen again.’
But Congressman Stephen Lynch, a Massachusetts Democrat, excoriated Pierson for her agents lax attention as Gonzales gave himself ‘half of a White House tour’ while he ran.
Omar Gonzalez, a 42-year-old military veteran, got past five rings of security on September 19 after jumping a fence on the White House’s outer perimeter.