WASHINGTON (NYTIMES) - A man with a gun and ammunition was arrested outside the White House early on Tuesday (Jan 23), the Secret Service said.
The man, whom officials identified as Bryan McHugh, 43, of Alexandria, Virginia, was found in a vehicle near the White House around 2.30am as Secret Service agents responded to reports of a suspicious vehicle.
He was transferred to the custody of the District of Columbia police and was expected to be charged with several firearms and weapons-related violations.
It was unclear what the man was doing with the weapons outside the White House.
Reached by phone, a woman listed as McHugh's sister said she was not aware of the arrest.
The episode was the second time in six months that Secret Service agents picked up someone with firearms near the White House grounds.
In September, a former police officer was arrested nearby with weapons and ammunition. He was charged with a felony firearms violation. The man, Timothy Bates, pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.
Security breaches at the White House are not uncommon. Visitors have been known to try to jump fences along the grounds and are often stopped before they can get near the building. Few security incidents in recent years have involved weapons.
In 2014, Omar J. Gonzalez jumped the fence and made it inside the White House before being stopped. Gonzalez, an Iraq War veteran, had a knife. He was arrested and sentenced to 17 months in prison.
In 2011, a 21-year-old man fired shots at the White House and hit the building at least seven times. The man, Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, was charged with attempting to assassinate former President Barack Obama.
