Secret Service agents acted fast on Tuesday to capture a fast-moving White House intruder: a two-year-old boy who wriggled through fencing on the north side of the building, prompting a brief security shutdown.
The Secret Service chief of communications, Anthony Guglielmi, said the “curious young visitor” gained entry “along the … north fence line [and] briefly entered White House grounds.
“The White House security systems instantly triggered Secret Service officers and the toddler and parents were quickly reunited.”
The boy’s parents, waiting on Pennsylvania Avenue, were briefly questioned then sent on their way.
The fence the toddler squeezed through is more than 13ft high.
Reporting the breach, NPR said “older children have sometimes become stuck in the iconic barrier, which has also been the scene of demonstrations, with protesters chaining themselves to the fence”.
Installation of the fence began in 2019, after a number of intruders made it on to White House grounds.
In the most alarming incident, in early 2017, a man carrying chemical spray scaled a 5ft fence by the US treasury department next door, then spent 16 minutes on White House grounds before being apprehended.
The intruder, Jonathan Tran, was found to be carrying two cans of Mace, a passport, a computer and a book by the then president, Donald Trump. He told his arresting agents he was a friend of Trump and had an appointment.
Trump, who the Tufts law professor Daniel Drezner memorably christened the Toddler in Chief, was at home at the time.
He commended the Secret Service for doing “a fantastic job”.
