NewsNational News

Actions

White House fence jumper draped in American flag arrested

Posted at 9:40 PM, Apr 02, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-02 21:40:01-04

WASHINGTON — A man was arrested Friday night after he jumped the north fence of the White House, authorities said.

The individual was taken into custody immediately after throwing a backpack over the fence before jumping over himself shortly before midnight, the Secret Service said in a statement Saturday morning. A law enforcement source said the suspect was a man.

He was charged with unlawful entry and was taken to the Metropolitan Police Department. The Secret Service and the law enforcement source declined to provide further details about the suspect, including his name and age.

A security sweep after the incident did not turn up anything suspicious. President Barack Obama was at the executive mansion at the time of the incident, but the White House quickly returned to normal operations Friday night.

This is the second arrest at the White House this week. On Monday, a woman who was attending the annual Easter Egg Roll attempted to move a temporary security barrier on the South Lawn and was immediately arrested.

The woman had a valid ticket for the event and went through the security screening process along with approximately 30,000 additional guests who also attended the event.

The woman was previously arrested by Secret Service on March 22 for jumping a bike rack at the White House complex, a law enforcement official source said.