Smoke Bomb Thrown Over White House Fence

WASHINGTON, -- A smoke bomb apparently was thrown over the White House fence Tuesday evening during an Occupy movement rally, the Secret Service said.


Secret Service spokesman George Ogilvie told Fox News Channel authorities were investigating and no arrests were reported as a result of the incident.


The network said it wasn't known if President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama were at home at the time. The Obamas had gone out to dinner to celebrate Michelle Obama's 48th birthday and it wasn't clear whether they had returned when the incident happened.


About 1,000 protesters were gathered outside the White House when the smoke bomb was tossed.


The Washington Post said four people were arrested earlier when protesters opposed to what they call corporate greed clashed with Capitol Police. Demonstrators went from singing and chanting to marching and dashing through government buildings, the newspaper said.


"I'm tired of the fat cats getting all the money," Barry Sipple, a 62-year-old disabled Vietnam veteran who arrived from Kentucky told the Post. "It seems like the right thing to do."


Deb Van Poolen, 42, an organic farmer living in the Occupy camp at Freedom Plaza, joined with others to stage a protest play in the office of Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., during which "terrorists" put a mock "Levin" behind bars.


Pressure has been mounting on the Obama administration to evict the protesters from their encampment in a federal park, with Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray citing unsanitary conditions last week in a request to have them moved, The Wall Street Journal reported.


Until now the National Park Service has tolerated the occupiers, allowing them to sleep in a square where federal regulations explicitly prohibit camping. The policy was coming under increased scrutiny even as the remaining protesters in the nation's capital geared up for colder months ahead.


An attempt to evict the protesters would almost certainly be met with resistance and arrests. The White House has deferred to local authorities in New York and elsewhere as they have evicted "Occupy" camps. But unlike other cities, the federal government is managing the demonstrations because the Park Service oversees many D.C. parklands, leaving the decision in the hands of Obama's administration.


Meanwhile House Republicans said Tuesday that they would hold a hearing on the "Occupy DC" protest next week, Dow Jones Newswires reported.


The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), said the hearing next Tuesday would focus on, "Who made the decision to allow indefinite camping in the park?"


The National Park Service has already taken responsibility for the decision, saying it was respecting demonstrators' First Amendment rights. Issa, however, had suggested the administration did not want to confront the protesters for political reasons.


National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis and D.C. Department of Health Director Mohammed Akhter would testify, the committee said. "We'll hold our comments for the hearing," a Park Service spokesman said earlier.