Administration

Man detained, officer injured after attempt to scale White House fence

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by Sarah Davis - 04/16/26 2:48 PM ET

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by Sarah Davis - 04/16/26 2:48 PM ET

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U.S. Secret Service agents detained a man on Thursday morning after he attempted to breach the White House perimeter on foot.

Secret Service communications chief Anthony Guglielmi said the incident occurred around 11:30 a.m. EDT, when the man jumped over a construction bollard by the Treasury Building on the northeast side of the presidential complex in Washington.

“Officers encountered the individual near a pedestrian gate, where he engaged in a physical altercation before being taken into custody,” Guglielmi said in a statement provided to NewsNation, The Hill’s sister network.

He noted that an officer “sustained a laceration” during the incident, and the agent, along with the suspect, received a medical evaluation for minor injuries.

Officials have yet to release identifying information.

The Thursday altercation follows an incident last month in which a man drove a van through a barricade near the White House in the early morning of March 11.

Christopher Cavanaugh, a 35-year-old from Ohio, was charged with unlawful entry and destruction of property after the crash, WUSA9 reported.

Cavanaugh was wearing a shirt in support of President Trump at the time of the crash, and he told Secret Service agents during an interrogation that he was at the White House to “deliver a present,” according to the local outlet.

Additionally, last October a man was taken into custody after he drove into a White House security gate. The man rammed his vehicle into the gate on the northeast perimeter of the complex, and he was “immediately” apprehended by Secret Service officers.

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