White House evacuated after man jumps fence, enters North Portico

A man jumped over the fence of the White House on Friday and made it through the front door before officers managed to apprehend him, the Secret Service said. President Barack Obama had departed the White House just minutes earlier. The rare security breach was likely to renew intense scrutiny of the Secret Service, an agency whose storied history has been marred in recent years by multiple allegations of misconduct by officers. It was unclear whether a fence-jumper has ever made it into the White House before.

Unfortunately, they are failing to do their job. There are good men and women, but the Secret Service leadership has a lot of questions to answer.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who chairs the House Oversight Committee’s subpanel on national security

After scaling the fence on the north side of the White House, the intruder darted toward the presidential residence, ignoring commands from officers to stop, said Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan. He was ultimately apprehended just inside the North Portico doors. Donovan said the man appeared to be unarmed to officers who spotted him climbing the fence, and a search of the suspect turned up no weapons. The suspect was transported to a nearby hospital for examination after complaining of chest pain. He was charged with unlawful entry into the White House complex. The Secret Service identified the suspect as Omar J. Gonzalez, 42.