Secret Service creates temporary White House fence 'buffer zone'

Dylan Stableford, Yahoo News
A new layer of temporary fencing creating a wider buffer along the sidewalk in front of the White House is pictured in Washington, September 23, 2014. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)

A new layer of fencing was installed in front of the White House on Tuesday, four days after a man with a knife jumped the fence and made it across the lawn and through the front door before he was stopped.

The fence, similar to those used at rock concerts, is waist-high and runs along the sidewalk on Pennsylvania Avenue, creating an 8-foot "buffer zone."

“This temporary closure is in effect while the Secret Service conducts a comprehensive review of the fence-jumping incident which occurred on Friday, September 19,” the Secret Service said in a statement.


Omar J. Gonzalez, a 42-year-old U.S. Army veteran from Copperas Cove, Texas, was charged with unlawfully entering a restricted building or grounds while carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon.

According to the criminal complaint, Gonzalez told Secret Service agents after his arrest that he was "concerned that the atmosphere was collapsing" and needed to contact the president "so he could get word out to the people." President Obama and his family had just left the White House for Camp David when Gonzalez was stopped.

On Monday, a federal prosecutor said Gonzalez had more than 800 rounds of ammunition in his car at the time of his arrest and had been arrested in July with a sniper rifle and a map on which the executive mansion was marked.


The incident prompted several lawmakers to call for a thorough investigation of the Secret Service.

"This is absolutely inexcusable," Rep. Peter King, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said on "Fox News Sunday." "This demands a full investigation, an investigation as to what happened, why it happened and what's being done to make sure it never happens again."

Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said there is one surefire way to stop fence jumpers.

“We could stop the breaches tomorrow. We have a great plan to do it,” Donovan said. “We’re going to close down Pennsylvania Avenue and we’re going to put barbed wire on the fence.”

But such a plan is not an option, he said.

The temporary fencing may provide the Secret Service a buffer from would-be jumpers, but certainly not from sarcastic tweets.