WASHINGTON: The director of the US Secret Service resigned on Wednesday following a string of lapses by the elite presidential protection branch, including one in which an armed intruder ran into the White House.

“Today, Julia Pierson, the Director of the United States Secret Service, offered her resignation, and I accepted it,” Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said in a statement.

Johnson appointed Joseph Clancy to serve as interim acting director until a permanent replacement is named for Pierson, who only took up her post 18 months ago after a prostitution scandal erupted within the agency.

An independent panel will be named to probe the September 19 incident, which saw knife-carrying homeless US army veteran Omar Gonzalez allegedly jump the White House fence and run into the residence, Johnson said.

Gonzalez pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to three counts including unlawfully entering a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2014