Qualla: 2014 White House intrusion

2014 White House intrusion: Introduction

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Юкатан, Public domain. Omar J. Gonzalez believed the atmosphere was collapsing and the President needed to be warned. He was 42 years old, an Army veteran of three tours in Iraq, and severely impaired by post-traumatic stress disorder. He took medication for it, but not consistently. He carried a folding knife everywhere. On the evening of September 19, 2014, he climbed over the spike-topped wrought-iron fence on the north side of the White House, sprinted across the lawn, and ran into the building through an unlocked front door. He overpowered a Secret Service officer in the entrance hall. He kept running. He passed the stairs to the family residence. He entered the East Room, the largest room in the White House, where state dinners and presidential funerals are held. There an off-duty agent who happened to be leaving for the night tackled him. The Secret Service initially told the public Gonzalez had been stopped at the front door. The truth came out a week later.

Image: Юкатан | Public domain

2014 White House intrusion: Three Tours and a Tomahawk

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Юкатан, Public domain. Omar J. Gonzalez had served three combat tours in Iraq. He came home with a traumatic brain injury from an IED blast, severe PTSD, and a constellation of physical and psychological injuries that left him walking with a cane and dependent on what neighbors described as very strong...

Image: Юкатан | Public domain

2014 White House intrusion: Over the Fence

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Юкатан, Public domain. At about 7:20 p.m. on Friday, September 19, 2014, Gonzalez parked near the White House and walked up to the iron fence. He scaled it - approximately 7 feet 6 inches high and topped with spikes - and dropped onto the North Lawn. Several officers shouted at him to stop. He kept run...

Image: Юкатан | Public domain

2014 White House intrusion: Into the East Room

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Юкатан, Public domain. Gonzalez kept running. He ran past the staircase that leads to the second-floor family residence - where the Obama family would have been sleeping if they had not left for Camp David just minutes earlier. He turned right and made it all the way into the East Room, the largest for...

Image: Юкатан | Public domain

2014 White House intrusion: What the Service Did Not Say

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Юкатан, Public domain. The Secret Service initially told reporters that Gonzalez had been stopped at the North Portico door. It took nine days, until a Washington Post story by Carol Leonnig on September 29, for the public to learn that he had actually made it deep into the East Room. Senior agency lea...

Image: Юкатан | Public domain