In what appears to be a violation of Secret Service protocols, an armed contractor with a criminal history was reportedly allowed on an elevator with US President Barack Obama during a recent trip to Atlanta.
According to The Washington Post, Obama was not told about the lapse in his security. The Secret Service director, Julia Pierson, asked a top agency manager to look into the matter but did not refer it to an investigative unit that was created to review violations of protocol and standards.
Secret Service agents tasked with the president's protection said that the incident occurred during Obama's visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to discuss the US response to the Ebola crisis on Sep 16.
The security contractor with a gun and three convictions for assault and battery was first noticed by the agents when he failed to comply with their orders to stop using a cellphone camera to record the president in the elevator.
A few agents stayed behind to question the man after Obama left the elevator with most of his Secret Service detail.
The man's criminal history was revealed after the agents used a national database to check him up.
Earlier, the White House witnessed a rare evacuation recently after a man managed to jump over the fence of the official residence of US President, and slipped through the front door before being detained by officers.
The incident took place right after US President Barack Obama along with his daughters and a guest left on a Marine One to Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland where Obama and his family were to spend the weekend, the report said.
Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said after climbing the fence on the north side of the White House, the intruder rushed toward the presidential residence, unheeding commands from officers to stop.
He was later detained inside the North Portico doors - the grand, columned entrance that looks out over Pennsylvania Avenue.
