ALICIA A. CALDWELL
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secret Service Director Julia Pierson acknowledged to Congress that an Army veteran who jumped the White House fence and made his way into the executive mansion was a threat.

Pierson said, “I think Mr. Gonzalez coming into the main floor mansion is a threat.”

Pierson was responding to questions from members of the House Oversight and Government Reform committee about Omar J. Gonzalez getting past Secret Service security on Sept. 19 carrying a small knife. The president was not at the White House at the time of the intrusion.

Pierson later said, “We all are outraged in the Secret Service about how this incident came to pass,” and acknowledged that the agency had failed in its mission. “Mistakes were made,” she said.

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