Why the Secret Service didn’t shoot the White House fence-jumper.....
The small army of Secret Service agents guarding the White House carry a wide range of weapons and get training on how to repel sophisticated armed assaults – so why did no one shoot the intruder who jumped the fence on Friday and got all the way to the mansion’s doors?
Officials inside the storied agency describe astonishment and embarrassment that no one tackled the suspect — identified as Omar J. Gonzalez, 42, of Copperas Cove, Texas — before he reached the grand columned entrance that looks out at Pennsylvania avenue. But they also defend the decision to hold their fire. “This wasn’t a military-style assault. He had no bag, no backpack, no visible weapons.
And from the early reports from the officers he seemed to be mentally disturbed,” one insider told Yahoo News. “
I know how to stop fence-jumpers,” the insider said. “We close Pennsylvania Avenue to pedestrians completely and we put barbed wire on top of the fence.” “But that’s not reasonable,” the source added. “We want Americans to be able to come up to that fence line and take pictures and have fun and enjoy it.”.....snip~
Why the Secret Service didn