Man breaches White House security, caught hiding near residence entrance

A man was arrested late Friday night after breaching security at the White House. The intruder, who was caught carrying a backpack, had hopped the fence surrounding the White House around midnight.

Secret Service officers apprehended the man, whose identity remains unknown, near the south entrance to the executive residence. President Donald Trump was in residence at the White House at the time of the incident. No injuries to the intruder or to the Secret Service have been reported.

“Following established protocols, the south and north grounds of the White House complex were searched by Secret Service Uniformed Division officers. Nothing of concern to security operations was found,” reported the Secret Service.

The area in which the intruder was caught is located near the South Lawn, an 18-acre area where Marine One lands and takes off.

According to a report by USA Today, “In the summer of 2015, sharper spikes were added to the fence surrounding the perimeter to discourage intruders. And last spring, the Secret Service proposed a new design with ‘intrusion detection technology.’”

This isn’t the first time a person has attempted to break into the White House during Trump’s time in office. On March 7, a man attempted to climb over a White House fence but was tackled and arrested before he could reach the other side.

During President Barack Obama’s tenure, multiple attempts to breach the White House were made, including a high-profile attempt in 2014 in which an intruder, Omar Gonzalez, was able to overpower a female Secret Service officer and make his way onto the White House’s main floor. Gonzalez, who was carrying a knife, ran all the way to the famed East Room before being tackled by a counterassault agent.