Police officers in U.S. Secret Service uniforms carry a child crawling over the White House fence on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington on Tuesday.
Nancy Benac/AP
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Nancy Benac/AP
Police officers in U.S. Secret Service uniforms carry a child crawling over the White House fence on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington on Tuesday.
Nancy Benac/AP
WASHINGTON — A curious toddler on Tuesday earned the title of one of the smallest White House intruders after getting through a metal fence on the north side of the executive mansion.
Officers from the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division, who are responsible for security at the White House, crossed the North Lawn to retrieve the child and reunite with his parents on Pennsylvania Avenue. Access to the complex was briefly restricted while officers proceeded to unify. Officers briefly questioned the parents before allowing them to continue on the road.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said officers “were met with a curious young visitor along the north fence of the White House who briefly entered the grounds of the White House.” .”
“White House security systems immediately activated Secret Service agents and the child and parents were quickly reunited,” he said in a statement.
This could be the first successful break-in to the complex since the White House. the fence has been doubled in height to about 13 feet (3.96 meters) in recent years following a series of security breaches. Although taller, the new fence adds an inch of space between the poles, for a total of 5½ inches (12.7 cm) between the posts.
Older children are sometimes trapped in the iconic fence, which has also been the site of protests, with protesters chaining themselves to the fence.
