AN INTRUDER WITH a backpack was arrested after breaching the White House grounds while US President Donald Trump was there, the US Secret Service has confirmed.
After scaling an outer perimeter fence at the Washington executive residence just before midnight on Friday, the suspect was arrested by uniformed secret service officers, the agency said in a statement obtained by AFP.
Authorities did not find dangerous materials inside the backpack following a screening. The grounds of the presidential complex were also deemed safe.
Trump, who is spending the weekend in Washington, was in the White House at the time and was told of the situation, CNN said.
John Kelly, head of the US Department of Homeland Security, was briefed on the security breach.
The White House has seen a string of high-profile trespassing incidents in recent years.
In one notable 2014 incident, while Barack Obama was president, an Army veteran jumped the White House fence, sprinted across the lawn and entered the building with a knife in his pocket.
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