Barack Obama: another intruder in the White House

A man was arrested at the White House and charged with trespassing Saturday, one day after an intruder scaled the fence along its perimeter and gained access to the building.

Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan told AFP that a man approached the White House gate on foot and was turned away by officers in the latest incident.

He was then placed under arrest a short time later when he turned up in his car at a gate at a different White House entrance.

Compared to the security breach one day earlier, Donovan said Saturday’s incident was a relatively minor affair.

“This is an everyday occurrence,” Donovan told AFP, adding that the individual taken into custody on Saturday at no point attempted to enter White House grounds.

“It’s being overblown,” he said, as US media quickly ramped up coverage.

Donovan made his comments following harsh criticism of the Secret Service over Friday’s scare in which a fence-jumper gained entry into the White House before being apprehended.

President Barack Obama and his family were not home at the time, though officials and journalists were rushed out of the building during the disturbance that began on the North Lawn around 7:20 pm (2320 GMT) Friday, the Secret Service said.

Minutes earlier, the first family had left by helicopter from the South Lawn headed for Camp David, the presidential weekend retreat, and were still there on Saturday, officials said.