WASHINGTON – The former stepson of a man accused of sneaking into the White House said the Iraq war veteran owns “plenty of firepower” that he could have brought with him if he meant any harm.
Omar Gonzalez is expected to appear in court Monday to face charges of unlawfully entering a restricted building or grounds while carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon – a knife in this case.
However, Jerry Murphy said Sunday that his former stepfather never goes anywhere without his knife and he’s sure Gonzalez didn’t intend to hurt anyone.
Officials have said Gonzalez was awarded a medal for his service in Iraq and retired due to disability.
The 42-year-old from Copperas Cove, Texas, served from 1997 to 2003, when he was discharged, and then again from 2005 to December 2012, when he retired. The military does not provide details about a soldier’s disability due to privacy considerations.
President Obama and his daughters had just departed the White House on Friday evening when Gonzalez scaled the north fence, darted across the lawn and into the presidential residence, where agents nabbed him. The security breach triggered a rare evacuation of much of the White House, with Secret Service officers drawing their guns as they rushed staffers and journalists out a side door.
The Secret Service has come under heavy criticism because of the incident.
The incident was “absolutely inexcusable,” Rep. Peter King said Sunday, adding he’s “sure” that Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, will set a hearing to determine how the incident Friday occurred under Secret Service’s watch. It’s just the latest in a series of embarrassing slip-ups that have exposed glaring deficiencies in the agency’s protection of the president and the first family.
Officials originally suggested the reason agents didn’t shoot the suspect, Omar Gonzalez, as he sprinted across the lawn or release guard dogs to detain him was because he appeared unarmed.
“He could have had a body bomb; he could have a vest on,” King said. In fact, Gonzalez was carrying a two-and-a-half-inch folding knife with a serrated blade in his right front pocket.
In 2012, more than a dozen agents and officers were involved in a prostitution scandal during President Obama’s trip to Cartagena, Colombia. And in March this year, three Secret Service agents were sent home from Amsterdam ahead of a presidential trip there after anepisode involving public intoxication.
Late Saturday, the White House released a statement reiterating Mr. Obama’s “full confidence” in the agency and promising a “thorough review of the event on Friday evening.