Washington: US President Barack Obama has exuded confidence in the ability of the Secret Service to protect the First Family in the wake of two intrusions at the White House that raised concern over its security.
"The Secret Service does a great job, and I'm grateful for the sacrifices that they make on my family's behalf," Obama told reporters at a White House event when asked if he still had confidence in the Secret Service following the breaches on Friday and over the weekend.
Texas Man, Omar Gonzalez, who jumped the White House fence and made it through the front door on Friday evening before being stopped by the Secret Service had 800 rounds of ammunition in his car, federal prosecutors said.
Gonzalez, 42, also had two hatchets and a machete in his car, parked blocks away, prosecutors said in federal court, The Washington Post reported.
According to court documents, Gonzalez told the Secret Service that the "atmosphere was collapsing" and he needed to tell the President.
He had a folding knife with a three-and-a-half-inch blade in his pant's pocket, the affidavit said.
The Secret Service has ordered a review of the White House Security, presidential spokesman Josh Earnest said.
"In the context of this specific incident, there will be a pretty broad look at a wide range of White House security procedures to ensure that the Secret Service is accomplishing their mission of protecting the President and the First Family, but also protecting the status of the White House as the People's House," he said.
"I'm confident that they will consider all of the factors that may have contributed to the situation, and ensure that our future ability to deal with these situations and to respond to them promptly will be strengthened as a result of the review," Earnest said.
Following Friday's incident, he said, there are a number of changes to the security posture that the United States Secret Service has already implemented at the White House, and these are changes that were implemented in the immediate aftermath of the incident.
"The Secret Service has beefed up foot patrols along around the fence line of the White House complex.
The Secret Service has deployed additional surveillance resources to beef up the surveillance around the White House.
The Secret Service has changed the procedures for ensuring that the entrance to the White House is secure," he said.
"There is already some stepped-up training for officers who are essentially standing on the front lines of the White House to ensure that they're aware of the policies and procedures that are related to securing the White House and dealing with incidents like the one that we saw on Friday," Earnest said.
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