WASHINGTON — At least six Secret Service employees are expected to face discipline over a security breach on March 10 in which a man gained entry to White House grounds, a Secret Service source told CNN Thursday.
On the evening of March 10, a man managed to jump multiple fences and was on White House grounds for more than 16 minutes before he was apprehended beneath President Donald Trump’s bedroom windows. Trump was in the White House at the time.
The source said the employees facing discipline include officers from the uniformed division as well as special agents. None of them were on administrative leave, the source said.
A Secret Service spokesperson refused to comment on the issue of employee discipline.
The source told CNN the Secret Service’s Office of Professional Responsibility is expected to recommend specific discipline for each employee involved within the next two weeks. Those recommendations will then be turned over to the agency’s Office of Integrity to make a final determination.
Previously, the Secret Service said there were “lapses in security protocols” that allowed the fence jumping incident to occur and said immediate steps had been taken to fix them. The steps included additional officers at posts, technology enhancements and additional response.
In a statement last week, the agency said: “The men and women of the Secret Service are extremely disappointed and angry in how the events of March 10 transpired.”
The suspect, 26-year-old Jonathan Tran, was found carrying two cans of mace and a letter for Trump. He was released on his own personal recognizance on the condition he be fitted with a GPS tracking device. He was allowed to go back to California but has to remain within 100 miles of his home in San Jose, stay away from the White House and remain in the US.
There have been several White House security incidents in recent weeks, including the fence jumper. A man drove up to the White House last weekend saying he had a bomb, and another man jumped over a bike rack in front of the White House. The Secret Service stopped the two people in the latter incidents before they could enter White House grounds.