Troubling incident
SEVENTEEN minutes. That is a shockingly long time for an intruder to roam undetected on the grounds of the White House while the president is inside the executive mansion. Fortunately the intruder on March 10 was carrying nothing more lethal than two cans of pepper spray.
But how could such a breach of security have occurred?
Secret Service officials owe an answer.
And while they are at it, they also might explain why they initially tried to minimise the seriousness of the incident.
The security failure, in which a 26-year-old California man with a history of mental illness pierced the outer perimeter of the White House near the Treasury Department, renews questions about the Secret Service’s ability to protect the country’s leaders and facilities.
A series of embarrassments has brought the agency under scrutiny.
There followed an overhaul of management that supposedly tightened protections. That makes this latest incident, along with the theft of an agent’s laptop .................. 031 308 2332 .............................. Yogas Nair .. Philani Mazibuko ...... Kamini Padayachee ............. Garth Johnstone Staats ............... 031 308 2004 containing sensitive information about Trump Tower, all the more troubling.
“I worry this is the worst one yet… it scares me,” said Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Chaffetz, describing a surveillance video viewed by the committee on Monday, detailed how the intruder cleared a fence and ground barriers, lingered on the south portico of the White House, moved through the south garden and peered in several windows before being apprehended.
Only after Chaffetz raised questions did the Secret Service release a timeline of events disclosing that agents failed to detect the intruder for 17 minutes.
The Secret Service urgently needs to get its house in order.
The agency is without a permanent director after the retirement of Joseph Clancy.
In choosing a replacement, Trump would do well to take to heart recommendations about the need for someone from outside the agency to bring a fresh eye to its operation. – Washington Post ................... 080 020 4711 .......................................... 031 308 2022 ................ mercnews@inl.co.za www.facebook.com/themercurysa www.twitter.com/themercurysa