Jumping the White House Fence

Joseph Caputo scaled the fence on the North Lawn of the White House at 2:45 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, while the first family was inside celebrating the holiday. He was apprehended immediately and taken into custody. Criminal charges are pending.

Joseph Caputo was carrying an envelope and was dressed in a blue shirt and white pants and cloaked in the American flag. Before jumping the fence, Caputo took a deep breath and said, "All right, let's do this." The officers who detained him had their guns drawn and were accompanied by K-9 units. Caputo jumped over the barricade and scaled the fence. The fence had been recently outfitted with 7 inch steel spikes to deter such occurrences. An official "all clear" was issued two hours after the episode, but the north and south fence lines remained temporarily closed throughout Thursday evening.

Caputo is at least the third person in 2015 to scale the fence and make it on to the White House property. Most of the people are quickly captured, but a 42-year-old Iraq war veteran in September of 2014 ran through the main floor past a stairway that leads up to the first family's residence. The man was eventually subdued by Secret Service agents. 

Read the full story here.

Questions:

  1. Do you think the White House should have better security? If so, how?
  2. What do you believe his motives were?
  3. What do you believe his consequences should be?
  4. What is the symbolism of the American flag draped around him.

My Opinion:

I think that if the White House has had several occurrences, such as these, that there should be more security. Obviously 7 inch spikes and the Secret Service, among other precautions won't keep people out. There should probably be other precautions. I've been there and I'm sure jumping the fence couldn't be very difficult. I believe this man had the intention to cause a ruckus, but honestly we may never know. The man should go to court and possibly jail. Several lives were most likely in harm and Caputo may face huge charges. I think that Caputo tried to show he stands for America, the land of the free and the home of the brave. I believe that he was making a statement showing that America has come to this point where things need to change. 

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Replies

  • Again, super job!!

  • I think they have great security because they got him right as he hit the lawn. He will probably just go to jail for some time and then released.

    • It is good security, but I don't like the fact that people can jump the fence. Others see that they can jump the fence and that it is possible to run onto the lawn and cause harm. 

  • I think that they normally have great security because that is the house of our president. I'm not sure what his motives would have been. I think he should be put in jail. 

    • He was detained almost immediately, so that does say something about being able to react very quickly with the security that the White House has. How long would you say he should serve behind bars? Do you have any guess as to what his motives were? 

  • well the white house can only do so much for protection and maybe putting wire on top of the fences would be better.  well you didnt say anything about him having a weapon on him so i thinik he was just trying to see how far he can get before someone stopping him. he didnt hurt anyone so i think he should have that much time maybe like 6 months at the most. i think he does not like obama and wants him gone.

    • I don't believe he had a weapon on his person, or if he did it wasn't mentioned in the article. It did say he had a rather large envelope. Containing just what, it didn't say specifically in the article. He didn't hurt anyone, but he might have encouraged others to jump the fence who are willing to hurt people. I believe that this man will most likely receive jail time. We will have to wait and see how much time he receives behind bars. 

  • I think they have quite a bit of security as is, but you can never really be too safe. I guess they could have more guards out, like closer to the gates to stop people from even getting on the lawn. 

    • Exactly, like many things in life, security can always be improved through new technology or just more enforcement. I believe that they shouldn't let people even get onto the lawn. I think that with many other people being able to cross the fence others are motivated to do the same. That is a fantastic idea and maybe just one or two officers during midday would work wonders. 

  • 1. I think the White house has enough security, at least from what I saw when i was in D.C., they can't control peoples actions and what they do. 

    2. I think his intentions were same as many peoples reasons for doing stupid things today- just for the heck of it. 

    3. I think he should be put put away for maybe a little bit of time, but putting him away for a long period of time is not going to stop his motives, whatever they were.

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