It was an unusual Saturday morning following an equally precarious Friday evening at the White House.
Just before 8:30amET, the White House pool reporter for the day sent a note that they were not being allowed into the White House. “The plaza in front of White House is shutdown. The AP Photographer uploaded photos of a shoulder to shoulder sweep of the north lawn at 7:30 am and then the uniformed officers moved to do the same shoulder to shoulder search across the plaza and into Lafayette park,” the pool note read. “There appear to be dozens of officers in the search”
About 15 minutes later, the Secret Service allowed the pool access to the White House. Even longtime members of the press corps say this morning’s activities were out of the norm.
They follow last night’s incident in which a Texas man jumped the fence around the North Lawn and made it through the door of the White House portico. In another incident this afternoon, a New Jersey man approached a White House gates on foot. He later drove up to another gate and pulled into the vehicle screening area. When he refused to leave, he was arrested and charged with unlawful entry.