I’m sure you know the story by now. A guy jumps the fence in front of the White House and makes it to the front door. The Secret Service (or suchlike) arrest the intruder, who claimed he was just trying to borrow a cup of sugar. [Note: I made that last bit up.] Another nutcase drives up later. He’s arrested too. Never mind that. The first guy, one Omar J. Gonzalez of Copperas Cove, Texas, got the media and All The President’s Men in a lather. How did Omar get so close to “Renegade’s” residence so quickly? In other words, why didn’t someone shoot the loon? What were those sharpshooters on the roof doing? Well, apparently . . .
a former agent told Fox News that if an intruder is not armed, then agents are “not supposed to shoot him.” Huh? How did the agent(s) know that Omar wasn’t armed after his five second sprint to the White House, especially as he ignored commands to stop. What if Sr. Gonzalez had a bomb strapped to his chest? A big bomb?
I reckon that the “we don’t shoot unarmed people” statement is just an excuse for Secret Service incompetence, lack of preparedness and a distinct testicular fortitude deficit. They should have drilled the guy at their first, OK second, chance. IMHO.