White House boosts security after bomb threat arrest

The Secret Service has bolstered security at the White House after a man was arrested for making threats at one of its checkpoints in the third such security scare in just over a week.
/AFP

WASHINGTON — The US Secret Service bolstered security at the White House after a man was arrested after making threats at one its checkpoints, an official 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 traveling seized.

President Donald Trump was away in Florida at the time.

“On March 18, 2017 at approximately 11:05 p.m., 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./AFP