White House breach: Accused fence-jumper Omar Gonzalez indicted

Accused White House intruder Omar Gonzalez has been indicted on federal and local charges stemming from the Sept. 19 break-in in which he allegedly scaled a White House fence and entered the executive mansion through an unlocked front door.

Gonzalez, 42, has been charged with one count of entering and remaining a restricting building and grounds, a federal offense that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, according to an indictment filed by the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

Gonzalez, a troubled Iraq war veteran from Copperas Cove, Texas, has also been charged with one count each of carrying a dangerous weapon outside a home or business, and unlawful possession of ammunition, both of which are offenses in the District of Columbia.

According to the federal prosecutors, Gonzalez was carrying a Spyderco VG-10 knife with a 3.5-inch blade, and was also in possession of hundreds of rounds of ammunition in a car parked nearby, including 12-gauge shotgun shells, 9mm rounds and rounds for a sniper rifle.

The knife possession charge holds a maximum fine of $5,000 and up to five years in prison in the District of Columbia, and the ammunition charge carries a potential maximum of a year in prison.

Federal prosecutors say Gonzalez had a dangerous fixation on the president, stockpiling weapons and ammunition and carrying a map to the White House stuffed in a Bible during an earlier arrest.

During the incident earlier this month, authorities say Gonzalez pushed past a guard, ran past a carpeted stairway leading to the Obama family’s living quarters and then into the East Room and a doorway of the neighboring Green Room before being tackled by Secret Service agents.

Law enforcement officials revealed Monday that Gonzalez had made it much farther into the White House than previously disclosed, pushing past a guard and running about 100 feet inside the first floor.

Secret Service Director Julia Pierson was grilled by lawmakers Tuesday over the security breach, during which she called the lapse “unacceptable.”

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