Secret Service considering public White House checkpoints, report claims

The Secret Service is considering a number of proposals designed to prevent intruders from breaching the security perimeter around the White House, according to published reports.

news3blog.blogspot.com reported that agency officials have had preliminary discussions about setting up checkpoints in public areas around the executive mansion. A law enforcement official told the AP that such a measure has previously been discussed. However, the issue has taken on added urgency after a Texas man carrying a knife jumped the perimeter fence Friday evening and made it inside the North Portico doors before he was apprehended.

The Washington Post reported that security checkpoints could be implemented as far as a block away from the White House entrance. The paper also reported that the Secret Service is also considering keeping people off the sidewalks around the perimeter fence and creating additional barriers. According to the Post, any plans to alter the security arrangements would have to be reviewed by multiple agencies as well as the Obama administration because the National Park Service owns much of the property around the White House.

Secret Service Director Julia Pierson ordered increased surveillance and more officer patrols after 42-year-old Omar Gonzalez, of Copperas Cove, Texas, climbed the fence, ran across the lawn and entered the building before agents stopped him. The First Family had departed for Camp David earlier in the evening.

The breach triggered a rare evacuation of much of the White House. Secret Service agents drew their weapons as they hurried White House staffers and journalists out of the West Wing through a side door.

Less than 24 hours after Gonzalez's arrest, a second man was apprehended after he drove up to a White House gate and refused to leave, Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said, prompting bomb technicians in full gear to search the vehicle as agents briefly shut down nearby streets. On Sunday, Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary identified the man as Kevin Carr, 19, of Shamong, New Jersey.

There were no indications the two incidents were connected.

Gonzalez is scheduled to have his initial appearance Monday in federal court on charges of unlawfully entering a restricted building or grounds while carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon.

news3blog.blogspot.com contributed to this report. Click for more from The Washington Post.