Secret Service stops another attempted intrusion
WASHINGTON — A person jumped a pedestrian barrier outside the White House on Saturday, prompting a Secret Service response, according to the Trump administration.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer praised the Secret Service in a tweet.
“Individual jumped bike rack on Pennsylvania Ave, not @WhiteHouse fence. Great response by @SecretService,” Spicer tweeted.
President Trump was not at the White House at the time of the incident. He is spending the weekend at his Florida estate.
The incident occurred eight days after a Bay Area man carrying Mace breached the perimeter of the executive complex on the night of March 10, roaming the White House grounds for nearly 17 minutes before being taken into custody, according to officials.
These recent events are certain to draw renewed scrutiny of the Secret Service. The agency came under criticism after a 2014 incident in which intruder Omar Gonzalez entered the executive mansion before being tackled by an off-duty agent in the East Room.
A Milpitas man carrying Mace roamed for nearly 17 minutes inside the secured White House perimeter before he was taken into custody March 10 near the South Portico entrance, the Secret Service acknowledged Friday.
The man did not enter the White House, the agency said, without further explaining the delay in his capture or details about alarms, protocols or responses that may have failed.
President Trump was in the residence at the time of the breach.
Jonathan Tran, 26, of Milpitas was detected crossing a 5-foot outer fence near East Executive Avenue and the Treasury Department complex at 11:21 p.m. and was arrested at 11:38 p.m., the agency said.
The incident is believed to be the first intrusion on the White House grounds since Trump took office. Last year, the Secret Service added small spikes — or “pencil points” — to the top of the six-foot fence that surrounds the White House complex. The agency also announced a plan to raise the height of the fence to 11 feet by 2018.
The chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Friday ordered the Secret Service to preserve documents in the March 10 episode and deliver a full briefing Monday.