Intruder Arrested At White House

President Donald Trump at home during incident, describes intruder as `troubled person’.

An intruder was arrested late Friday night after scaling a fence protecting the east side of the White House and proceeding to the South grounds, the U.S. Secret Service said in a statement.

The incident happened at 11:38 p.m. EST, the agency said, when the intruder breached the “outer perimeter fence” near the U.S. Treasury Building and East Executive Avenue.

President Donald Trump was at home at the time.

The Secret Service wouldn’t give the person’s name or gender. The intruder was carrying a backpack that was searched and found not to contain any hazardous material, the agency said.

Following the episode, Secret Service agents searched the White House grounds. “Nothing of concern to security operations was found,” the agency said.

The individual had no previous criminal record or history of any dealings with the Secret Service, a U.S. official said.

Mr. Trump mentioned the incident in brief remarks to reporters Saturday during a meeting with cabinet members at his golf club in Virginia.

He said the “Secret Service did a fantastic job last night” and described the intruder as a “troubled person.”

In recent years, the Secret Service has confronted a series of security lapses at the White House, prompting concerns about its practices and changes in leadership.

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