Posted on 03/18/17
| News Source: Arutz Sheva
Secret Service arrests White House intruder - after seventeen minutes' delay.
A California man was arrested seventeen minutes after he jumped the White House fence near the South Portico entrance before being taken into custody on March 10, the Secret Service reported on Friday.
Upon investigation, the intruder was found to be carrying a backpack, two cans of mace, a US passport, a computer, and one of US President Donald Trump's books.
The Secret Service said the intruder, 26-year-old Jonathan Tran of Milpitas, California, jumped the fence at 11:21pm and was arrested at 11:38pm. He did not enter the White House, where Trump was located at the time.
Tran scaled the White House fence, then an 8-foot vehicle gate and a 3.5-foot fence near the southeast corner of the White House's East Wing. A uniformed officer saw Tran and arrested him, 200 yards from where he had entered the grounds.
At one point, Tran hid behind a pillar.
It is not clear what caused the delay in his arrest. Secret Service has opened an investigation and taken steps to fix breaches in security protocols.
A House Oversight Committee on Friday ordered the Secret Service to preserve documents related to the incident and deliver a full briefing on Monday.
In an additional incident on Saturday, a person jumped over a bike rack in a buffer zone in front of the White House, but was not able to make it over the fence into the grounds.
"Individual jumped bike rack on Pennsylvania Ave, not @WhiteHouse fence. Great response by @SecretService," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer tweeted on Saturday afternoon.
At the time, Trump was in Florida.
According to CNN, two Secret Service agents tackled the intruder.
The Secret Service has not commented on Saturday's incident.