After Yesterday’s Fence Jumper, Norton Today Visits White House and Says Public Access Must Not Be Sacrificed

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today visited the front of the White House with a television reporter after a man she called the "Thanksgiving Jumper" made it over temporary spikes installed to prevent jumping over the White House perimeter fence. Norton will ask U.S. Secret Service leadership to come to her office next week to discuss the timing for a permanent fix to the White House fence, which is in the works.

"I am flabbergasted that yesterday's jumper, Joseph Caputo, was able to make a remarkable jump, apparently first over bike racks and then the White House fence itself, with an American flag wrapped around him and carrying something that looked like a thin book in his mouth," Norton said. "The Secret Service acted quickly to apprehend Caputo, but his jump shows that the current fence fix does not work. The Secret Service must use this experience to help them learn what will work. I fully recognize that the challenge is formidable to ensure a fence that prevents a team of trained high-jump terrorists from scaling the fence, maintains its historic authenticity, and allows the public as close to the White House and this important First Amendment area of our city as before. The public was kept far from the White House of the opposite side of Pennsylvania Avenue today, perhaps understandable after yesterday's jumper. However, if the public is not allowed to return across the street to the front of the White House, where they were before, the Secret Service will concede that they lack the professionalism to maintain the security of the White House without blocking the American people. I recognize that the Secret Service has a formidable task, particularly in an era of terrorism, but it must meet its first mission of ensuring security for the First Family without neglecting its responsibility to help our country maintain an open society. I have no doubt that the Secret Service can do both."