The Free Press Journal

Now, bomb scare at White House, security upgraded

AUDACIOUS Secret Service in state of readiness after man drives to White House checkpoint and claims to have bomb in his vehicle

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A day after former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino said US President Donald Trump is not safe inside the White House and even the Secret Service would not be able to protect him during a terror attack, the US Secret Service bolstered security at the White House after a man was arrested after making threats at one its checkpoint­s, an official has said.

CNN reported that the man made a threat claiming he had a bomb in his car, and that he was immediatel­y arrested and the car in which he was travelling seized. President Donald Trump was away in Florida at the time "On March 18, 2017 at approximat­ely 11:05 pm, an individual drove a vehicle up to a Secret Service checkpoint located at 15th Street and E Street NW," a Secret Service spokesman said in the latest of a series of White House security concerns. "Upon contact with the individual, US Secret Service Uniform Division Officers detained the individual and declared his vehicle suspicious. In accordance with proper protocols, Secret Service personnel increased their posture of readiness," he added.

Just hours earlier, a person was arrested after jumping over a bike rack in an apparent bid to reach the fence outside the White House, the Secret Service said. The individual was detained immediatel­y and criminal charges are pending, the agency said in a statement, without identifyin­g the suspect. A Secret Service official speaking on condition of anonymity said the person was not found to be carrying any weapons.

The arrest came about a week after a more serious incident that called into question security outside the White House. Just before midnight on March 10, a man scaled three barriers outside the White House -- a perimeter fence, a vehicle gate and then another fence -- and walked around the grounds of the executive mansion for 16 minutes before being arrested.

That time Trump was inside the building. The White House has seen a string of high-profile trespassin­g incidents in recent years.

In one notable incident in 2014, while Barack Obama was president, an army veteran described as mentally disturbed made it into the White House grounds, sprinted across the lawn and entered the building with a knife before being tackled and arrested.

 ?? AP ?? US Secret Service officers stand in the cordoned off area on Pennsylvan­ia Avenue after a security incident near the fence of the White House in Washington on March 18. President Trump was not at the White House at the time.
AP US Secret Service officers stand in the cordoned off area on Pennsylvan­ia Avenue after a security incident near the fence of the White House in Washington on March 18. President Trump was not at the White House at the time.

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