WASHINGTON — Visitors to the White House have mixed views about a new security fence on the sidewalk of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House.
The Secret Service says the interlocking steel barricade that runs from West Executive to East Executive Avenue creates a temporary buffer zone while the Secret Service reviews the fence-jumping incident of Friday, Sept. 19.
A man armed with a knife scaled the black iron fence, dashed across the North Lawn and made it inside the White House before being subdued.
“I think it’s terrible just because of what it represents, that somebody’s trying to do harm, to get into the White House. But it also takes away from the visitors that are here,” says Veronica Cummings, of Fort Washington, visiting the White House with a group of students from the University of California’s Washington program.
The barricade, less than 4 feet high and in the center of the sidewalk, keeps visitors about 6 feet back from the White House fence.
“I would say it’s warranted
