-Another- security lapse: Obama shared lift with armed guy that had 3 convictions for assault

[alhoon]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29437755

The gist:
"President Barack Obama rode in a lift with an armed security contractor who had assault convictions, in another security lapse."
" The Washington Post said the man had three convictions for assault and battery. "This person was within arm's length of the president with a gun,"
said Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, who was told of the incident by a whistleblower. "

The first security lapse:
"Omar Gonzalez, 42, scaled a fence at the White House, ran across the lawn, entered an unlocked door, entered the East Room and was eventually tackled
inside."




OK, I understand Soviet Union is no more so USA is more comfortable in its laurels as the world's only superpower. But 2 security lapses so close to one another?
Do you think it's coincidence or the secret service has become way more relaxed than it was in 10 years ago? (In a war following 9/11)

[Adar]

Were the assault convictions for racial or politically motivated violence?

[Roma_Victrix]

Dana Milbank from the Washington Post says it best:

Julia Pierson puts the ‘secret’ in Secret Service

Julia Pierson is really putting “secret” into the Secret Service.

First, her agency declared that the White House fence jumper who made it all the way into the Executive Mansion was unarmed; turned out later that he had a knife.

Then the agency said the jumper was subdued as soon as he entered through the North Portico. Now we learn, from The Post’s Carol D. Leonnig, that he led agents on a dance into the East Room and outside the Green Room.

At this rate of disclosure, we may soon learn that the jumper stopped in the Oval Office and signed a few executive orders while talking to Vladimir Putin on the red telephone.

That is truly a funny image. It would be even funnier if this situation of lax obedience to protocols by the Secret Service wasn't so serious.

As Milbank points out, there was a far more serious lapse in security back in 2011, which was all over the headlines recently when it was disclosed that the Secret Service was inept enough to leave the matter dormant for several days without investigation:

Leonnig, in another blockbuster, reported over the weekend that the Secret Service covered up details of a 2011 incident in which shots were fired at the White House. Hidden from the people and their representatives: that the shots posed a potential danger to the Obama daughters and that it took the Secret Service four days to realize that bullets had hit the White House residence — and then only because a housekeeper found broken glass. Pierson was Secret Service chief of staff at the time.

As others here may recall, that 40-something-year-old guy, Oscar Ortega-Hernandez from Idaho, was eventually arrested in Pennsylvania...almost a week later!

[Dr Zoidberg]

I can't help but feel the Secret Service's heart just isn't it with this Pres....

[Simon Cashmere]

What's ironic is that this CDC contractor would not have been allowed to own a gun as a civililan, but because the rules that apply for Federal agencies are different to civilians, he gets one. I checked they were felony convictions, which means he would fail a civilian background check.

Another Secret Service security lapse comes to light




President Obama shared an elevator earlier this month with an armed security contractor who has three felony convictions relating to assault and battery, in the latest report of a serious violation of Secret Service security protocols.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014...or-with-obama/

Pretty weird behaviour, you'd think that if he managed to get a job like this he'd keep his head right down...instead of start trying to take selfieswith the Prez in the elevator.

[Stavroforos]

The only solution is to have Obama live in a bubble, floating above the Earth, where no common man can taint him with his presence.

[alhoon]

As Milbank points out, there was a far more serious lapse in security back in 2011, which was all over the headlines recently when it was disclosed that the Secret Service was inept enough to leave the matter dormant for several days without investigation:



As others here may recall, that 40-something-year-old guy, Oscar Ortega-Hernandez from Idaho, was eventually arrested in Pennsylvania...almost a week later!

That's way too serious to believe, even in light of the secret service recent lapses. I believe the story about the gunshots was exaggerated for political reasons.

I can't help but feel the Secret Service's heart just isn't it with this Pres....

That shouldn't have anything to do though.

The only solution is to have Obama live in a bubble, floating above the Earth, where no common man can taint him with his presence.

There's a lot of space between that and an armed person with 3 convictions for assault and battery to be next to the president because nobody cared to check his background.

[snuggans]

I can't help but feel the Secret Service's heart just isn't it with this Pres....

not really, there have been many intruders in history, they're just not about to riddle trespassers with bullets with everyone watching. in a way, even detaining them on the front lawn where everyone is getting a peek just looks bad, i'm thinking they allow people to get past a certain point so that detaining them doesn't become a public sideshow.

edit: and the secret service chief was just forced to resign

[Simon Cashmere]

They don't need to shoot anyone usually, a taser will take most people down pretty fast, or even a tackle usually. But, if this guy had taken umbrage at being asked to not take selfies with the Prez and pulled his gun saying 'Well what you got to say now huh?" and decided to kill the agents and the Prez in the elevator, that's not so good. If you are law enforcemnt in the confined space of an elevator - the last thing you are going to think is that someone else an armed contractor for the CDC (wtf does the CDC have armed conctractors, and why are they bringing them to the White House?) who has all the vistors badges and passes on them, is going to go nuts with their service firearm. However, let's say this guy is prentedning to put his phone away and instead draws his gun, not much time to react or anywhere to hide in an elevator. This was a 'near miss' in the truest sense of those words.

[Roma_Victrix]

I can't help but feel the Secret Service's heart just isn't it with this Pres....

As Milbank says in that article I shared, it appears that the Secret Service, in attempting to cover up their mistakes, are more concerned about shielding themselves from embarrassment and reform than actually doing their job, i.e. protecting the POTUS.

[Gaidin]

They don't need to shoot anyone usually, a taser will take most people down pretty fast, or even a tackle usually. But, if this guy had taken umbrage at being asked to not take selfies with the Prez and pulled his gun saying 'Well what you got to say now huh?" and decided to kill the agents and the Prez in the elevator, that's not so good. If you are law enforcemnt in the confined space of an elevator - the last thing you are going to think is that someone else an armed contractor for the CDC (wtf does the CDC have armed conctractors, and why are they bringing them to the White House?) who has all the vistors badges and passes on them, is going to go nuts with their service firearm. However, let's say this guy is prentedning to put his phone away and instead draws his gun, not much time to react or anywhere to hide in an elevator. This was a 'near miss' in the truest sense of those words.

A bit dramatic.

Anyway, there's quite a few more incidents, and most of them are plausibly known to the public. The thing is, new details are coming out via leaks from the agency(specifically agents within it) or people close to it because the agents think something needs to be done. Or so the news reporters think. As Roma points out, the Agency is interested in protecting itself. The Agents, however, for the most part past the few bad apples that get drunk off their ass, have a job to do and the Agency is stopping them.

[Simon Cashmere]

People have been known to shoot others on being told they have lost their job. That's what happened here - he was fired on the spot. Usually they go away and come back though, but then again most need to go away to arm themselves. You had this guy get fired in front of the Secret Service, then hand over his weapon when he got fired and they had no idea he had one. Person who had no right to a gun, wearing a gun, doing weird things in the elevator - filming the President, and previous form for felony assault. Sort of a problem.

[Gaidin]

Btw are you insisting the Center for Disease Control has no material for which they'd want armed security for protection?

[mrmouth]

For what it's worth - a family member (DoD) relayed to me this was a well known perfect storm scenario of having a sizeable portion of veteran agents retire due to age requirements in a short period of time, combined with the overall expansion of the Secret Service, combined with a new push to meet those expansion numbers by recruiting from the veteran pool that served in certain 'elite' units that got very used to relaxed standards and oversight when serving in a combat zone.

In the past the majority of recruiting was done within civilian law enforcement and the FBI, etc.

[Simon Cashmere]

Btw are you insisting the Center for Disease Control has no material for which they'd want armed security for protection?

I did not say anything like that. I was saying, why does the CDC have someone with a gun at the WHITEHOUSE - not at the CDC.

[Gaidin]

I did not say anything like that. I was saying, why does the CDC have someone with a gun at the WHITEHOUSE - not at the CDC.

That wasn't in the White House, that was in Atlanta. I...think I'll stop paying attention to you regarding that mishap.

[Phier]

Security is only so good if you want to be able to at least move around without brigade at all times disrupting everyone's life (which has happened at times when Clinton visited Chicago, in rush hour, where they would basically close the freaking airport and the major expressways).

Last weekend I was at an event where they had a lot of extra security. I found out why when I was standing about 6 feet behind the Governor of my state, with no one in between him and me. Had I really wanted to, odds are I could have snuck some sort of weapon in and taken him out, provided I didn't mind getting caught in the process. Security can only do so much and it works because there are a lot of "luck" factors involved. Lets say I decided I was going to take out the Governor and I knew he would be there. I wouldn't know when, I wouldn't know exactly where, I wouldn't know if I could get close enough etc. So even with intent such a assassination would be difficult. So that leaves a spur of the moment thing to worry about and success there would be unlikely .

So basically it happens, and probably happens more then we ever know, mostly because most people, no matter how much they might dislike someone, aren't going to try to kill them just because they could.