The White House spent over an hour under lockdown after a man claimed to have planted a bomb

A security guard stands at the door of the White House press room.

(Image credit: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

published 28 March 2017

The White House spent over an hour under lockdown Tuesday after a suspicious package triggered a bomb threat warning, International Business Times reports. The Secret Service announced that a man approached 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. claiming to have a bomb around 10:25 a.m. ET, and White House staff were subsequently ordered to shelter in place. The alert was lifted at 11:37 a.m., although the suspicious package investigation — involving a bomb robot — continued.

The suspect had a warrant out for his arrest prior to the incident. He was caught just east of the White House and taken into custody:

Security concerns have plagued the Trump residences, with a Politico report Tuesday indicating that protection of the first lady and her son at Mar-a-Lago is apparently lacking. As recently as Sunday, a woman who said she wanted to talk to the president was arrested for jumping the White House fence. The suspect cited other recent fence jumpers' successes as her inspiration for attempting the unlawful entry.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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