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A man has been charged for climbing over the White House fence and telling an officer he was a friend of President Donald Trump's.
Key points:
- 23-year-old Jonathan Tran charged with entering or remaining in restricted grounds while carrying a dangerous weapon
- Intruder was carrying a backpack with mace, US passport, computer and a letter about "Russian hackers"
- Donald Trump, who was home at the time, praised the Secret Service for doing a "fantastic job"
The US President was inside the White House when a 26-year-old man, identified by Washington DC police as Californian Jonathan Tran, scaled the complex's south grounds fence and uniformed officers arrested him, the Secret Service said in a statement.
It was the first known security breach at the White House since Mr Trump took office nearly two months ago.
A Secret Service officer approached Mr Tran on the south grounds about 11:38pm on Friday (local time) and asked whether he had a pass authorising him to be in the restricted area.
Mr Tran replied: "No, I am a friend of the president. I have an appointment."
Asked how he got there, he said he "jumped the fence".
Mr Tran was carrying two cans of mace as well as a US passport, a computer and one of the president's books, authorities said.
He also carried a letter he had written to the President that mentioned "Russian hackers", and said he had relevant information.
The Secret Service said that the individual, whom it did not directly identify, was arrested without further incident.
Mr Tran was charged with entering or remaining in restricted grounds while using or carrying a dangerous weapon, and faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, said Bill Miller, a spokesman for the US Attorney's office.
Secret Service spokesman Martin Mulholland said Mr Tran had no arrest record or history with the agency.
The entrance where Mr Tran was arrested is near the part of the White House where the President resides.
Mr Trump, who was later briefed on the matter, told reporters that the Secret Service did a "fantastic job" stopping the intruder.
Speaking to reporters at a working lunch with several Cabinet members at his golf course outside Washington, the President said Mr Tran "was a troubled person" and "very sad".
Intruder got past spikes installed after previous security threats
The fence surrounding the property is bolstered with a row of sharp spikes bolted to the top, which was installed following a 2014 intrusion that prompted the resignation of Secret Service director Julia Pierson and a series of recommendations to tighten security.
The backpack carried by Mr Tran was screened and searched as a precaution, and no hazardous material was found, according to the statement.
The Secret Service searched the north and south grounds but nothing of concern turned up.
Neither the Secret Service nor the White House responded immediately to a request for further details.
The most serious of the recent security incidents at the White House occurred in September 2014, when an Army veteran carrying a knife climbed the fence and pushed his way inside the building before he was stopped.
Another man wearing an American flag jumped the fence in November 2015.
In April 2016, an intruder threw a backpack over the outer fence and then scaled it before getting arrested.
The Secret Service and National Park Service have been working on a new fence design and other upgrades.
AP/Reuters
Topics: donald-trump, defence-and-national-security, security-intelligence, united-states
First posted