The 1985 White House intrusion occurred on 20 January 1985 when Robert Allen Latta,"Clarity, James F., and Warren Weaver Jr.

" ''New York Times'' 31 January 1985. a 45-year-old

water meter Water metering is the practice of measuring water use. Water meters measure the volume of water used by residential and commercial building units that are supplied with water by a public water supply system. They are also used to determine Flui ...

reader, successfully entered the White House uninvited.Waltzing In
" ''Time'' 11 February 1985.
" ''New York Times'' 31 January 1985.

Background

Latta, of

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, held a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

and worked as a

reader for the Denver water department, where he held the Denver meter-reading record of 600 readings in a single day. ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine quoted his supervisor as saying "He is a phenomenon of accuracy and speed."

Intrusion

While on

vacation A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or school or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for sp ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, on January 20, 1985 (the day that President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

was sworn in for his second term) Latta gained access to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

by following the 33 members of the

Marine Band The United States Marine Band is the premier band of the United States Marine Corps. Established by act of Congress on July 11, 1798, it is the oldest of the United States military bands and the oldest professional musical organization in the ...

past security. While carrying an overnight bag, he was able to wander around the

Executive Residence The Executive Residence is the central building of the White House complex located between the East Wing and West Wing. It is the most recognizable part of the complex, being the actual "house" part of the White House. This central building, f ...

for 14 minutes, but was eventually discovered near the Blue Room and was apprehended by

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For i ...

agents, who noticed that he had neither a uniform nor an instrument.Greene, David L.
Expect the unexpected at inaugurals
" ''Baltimore Sun''. ''New York Times'' 19 January 2005. Latta reportedly did not know he was doing anything illegal, and was quoted as saying "I thought if I wasn't supposed to be there, somebody would stop me"
" ''New York Times'' 30 January 1985. and that "I just wanted to see the ceremony...I'm kind of patriotic."

Aftermath

Secret Service agents brought in

dogs The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers ...

to search for

explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An ex ...

s and

interrogated Interrogation (also called questioning) is interviewing as commonly employed by law enforcement officers, military personnel, intelligence agencies, organized crime syndicates, and terrorist organizations with the goal of eliciting useful inf ...

Latta outside the White House. Later Latta was turned over to the

Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPDC), more commonly known locally as the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and, colloquially, DC Police, is the primary law enforcement agency for the Washington, D.C., District ...

and charged with a

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than admi ...

count of unlawful entry. Latta was jailed for five days and interviewed by court-appointed

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

Dr. Norman L. Wilson, who discovered that Latta had voluntarily committed himself to a

psychiatric hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...

in June 1984 and heard voices saying, "You blew it," according to documents filed in the District of Columbia Superior Court. Latta was committed to

St. Elizabeths Hospital St. Elizabeths Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast Washington, D.C. operated by the District of Columbia Department of Mental Health. The hospital opened in 1855 under the name Government Hospital for th ...

.Security lapse lets intruder in White House
" UPI 30 January 1981. Wilson recommended further psychiatric study of Latta and a hearing commissioner on January 21 ordered Latta to undergo mental evaluation, but that order was not received by city psychiatrists until three days later, several hours after he had posted bond on $1,000

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...

. Latta was quoted as saying the intrusion was "a mistake" but also "the high point of being in Washington" and that "I just wanted to see how far I could get."Headliners: The Man Who Slipped By
" ''New York Times'' 3 February 1985. The unlawful entry had a maximum penalty of six months in jail, but because it was only a misdemeanor, Washington, D.C., prosecutors could not

extradite In an extradition, one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdict ...

him from

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

if he did not return voluntarily. Latta was arrested May 7, 1985, after he failed to show up for a court appearance in Washington, D.C., but was released on personal recognizance after Magistrate Judge Donald E. Abram of the

United States District Court for the District of Colorado The United States District Court for the District of Colorado (in case citations, D. Colo. or D. Col.) is a federal court in the Tenth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are a ...

set a hearing on whether he should be returned to Washington, D.C., to face charges.White House Intruder Freed
" Associated Press 7 May 1985.

In popular culture

Comedian

Rich Hall Richard Travis Hall (born June 10, 1954) is an American comedian, writer, director, actor, and musician, first coming to prominence as a sketch comedian in the 1980s. He wrote and performed for a range of American networks, in series such as ...

regularly imitated Latta as part of his comedy routine on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' in 1985.

References

{{reflist, 2 White House intrusion Latta, Robert Presidency of Ronald Reagan 1985 crimes in the United States

Background

Intrusion

Aftermath

In popular culture

See also

References