A man who was driving a suspicious vehicle was captured this late Saturday at the White House by the Secret Service. The man was detained in one of the White House checkpoints and represents the third attempt to scare the security on the home of the President in just one week.
At about 11 PM, an unknown vehicle arrived at the Secret Service checkpoint located at 15th and E Street NW. The officials in charge of capturing the man were part of the Secret Service Uniform Division. A spokesperson said that the vehicle was “suspicious” and that they had “increased their posture of readiness.”
Authorities did not reveal why the person driving the car was labeled as suspicious by Secret Service officers. However, in this type of situations is common for officials to start searching a particular vehicle no matter how long it takes. Afterward, once they found the suspected car, officers look for explosives or guns. In this case, they did not found any dangerous material.
The Secret Service said in an official statement that there is already an ongoing investigation regarding these events. However, they also stated that no further details concerning the investigation would be revealed to the press.
Other similar incidents at the White House
The Secret Service reported that last Saturday, at 12 AM, a man was caught after jumping one of the pedestrian barriers that protect the White House and its surroundings. In this case, the incident took place near the north entrance of the Presidential home on Pennsylvania Avenue NW.
Mason Brayman, a Secret Service spokesman, said that the unidentified man was immediately apprehended by officers after they noticed the failed attempt to enter the house. Brayman said that criminal charges are pending.
The White House Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, thanked and praised the Secret Service this Sunday after the mentioned events.
“Individual jumped bike rack on Pennsylvania Ave, not @WhiteHouse fence. Great response by @SecretService,” Spicer post on his official Twitter account this Sunday.
The first incident took place last week when on March 10 an unauthorized man managed to stay over 16 minutes in the White House facility without being captured by Secret Service officials, this time near the South Portico entrance.
The man, identified as Jonathan T. Tran, 26, from Milpitas, California, did not enter the President’s home and was detected when attempting to climb a five-foot fence near East Executive Avenue and the Treasury Department complex. He entered the facility at 11:21 PM and was not captured until 11:38 PM.
The Secret Service acknowledged the event and did not comment regarding what kind of security protocol or alarm failed at the time of the trespassing. This was the first time since President Trump took office that an incident of this nature happens. The President and his family were inside the House when Tran trespassed the security barriers.
For safety reasons, the Secret Service added spikes on the top of the six-foot fence that surrounds the White House entirely. The agency also announced that they plan to increase the high of the barrier to 11 feet for the next year.
Source: The Washington Post