D.C.-area Man Breached White House Security Like Salahis
U.S. Secret Service revealed a third gate-crasher at the Nov. 24 state dinner.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 5, 2010— -- Aspiring reality-TV stars Tareq and Michaele Salahi were apparently not the only uninvited guests masquerading at the White House state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Nov. 24.
In a surprising revelation, the United States Secret Service said yesterday that a third gate-crasher made it onto White House grounds without undergoing a background check.
"The subject traveled from a local hotel where the official Indian delegation was staying, and arrived at the dinner with the group, which was under the responsibility of the Department of State," a statement from the U.S. Secret Service reads.
Sources tell ABC News the D.C.-area man met the Indian delegation at the Willard Hotel, where they went through an initial magnetometer security screening before boarding vans to the White House grounds. Upon approaching the White House gate, Secret Service personnel then waved through the delegation's van, assuming everyone inside had been cleared and screened to attend.
"They clearly are not following their basic protocol in that you cannot let anyone in a controlled space, particularly with the president, without being cleared," former FBI special agent Brad Garrett told ABC News.
The Secret Service says that "there is nothing to indicate that this individual went through the receiving line" or had contact with the Obamas, unlike the Salahis, who famously shook hands with the president.
Ed Donovan, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said he would not provide the name of the individual in question.
But the Washington Post has identified the man as Carlos Allen, whose Facebook page says he's a fan of gate crasher Michaele Salahi. Government sources would not confirm his name and Allen did not respond to attempts by ABC News to reach him.
In a statement to Politico, Allen denied attending the state dinner, saying repeatedly, "I did not attend the state dinner."
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