U.S. President Donald Trump has said that Jonathan Tran, 26, who scaled an outer-perimeter fence on the White House complex on Friday night was a troubled person. Trump, who made the remarks on Saturday, said he appreciated the Secret Service efforts and that the accused is disturbed.
“The secret service did a fantastic job last night,” Trump said.
On the intruder, the president added that “he was a troubled person. It was very sad”.
Tran climbed a White House fence on Friday night and gained access to the complex’s south grounds before being arrested, the Secret Service said on Saturday.
The service said the incident occurred at about 11:38 p.m. on Friday while Trump was at the White House.
The Secret Service also said Tran scaled an outer-perimeter fence on the White House complex’s southeast side, near the Treasury Building, and was arrested without further incident by an officer in the agency’s Uniformed Division.
The intruder was carrying a backpack and purportedly got close to the White House’s south portico residence entrance, near the Washington Monument.
No hazardous material was found inside the backpack, and a subsequent search of the complex grounds resulted in “nothing of concern to security operations,” the Secret Service said.
The agency also said that the suspect had no “previous history” with the agency.
Tran, who reportedly had a California driver’s license, told Secret Service officers that he was at the White House to see Trump.
“No, I am a friend of the President. I have an appointment,” the suspect said when approached by an officer, according to a report released on Saturday by the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department.
Asked how he got there, the suspect told officers: “I jumped the fence”.
