White House Security Breach: Man Charged With Unlawful Entry For Climbing Bike Rack

A man who climbed a bicycle rack near the White House grounds Sunday has been charged with unlawful entry, a spokesman for the Secret Service said. The incident occurred at a temporary bike rack set back from the White House fence on Pennsylvania Avenue, the Associated Press reported. Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary said the position of the bike rack made it unlikely anyone could use it to get over the fence.

The man, who was not identified in the AP report, was turned over to District of Columbia police after his arrest by the Secret Service, Leary said. Sunday’s incident was the latest in a string of breaches of security at the home of President Barack Obama and his family. The breaches have led to a shake-up in leadership at the Secret Service.

Last week, authorities investigated the crash of a small drone on the White House lawn. The drone was controlled by a man who said he did not intend for it to fly onto the White House grounds. There were more serious breaches in recent months. In October, Dominic Adesanya, a 23-year-old mentally ill man, jumped the White House fence and had previously been arrested at the gate. In September, Omar Gonzalez hopped the White House fence and made it into the building with a knife before Secret Service agents subdued him. The incident led to the resignation of Secret Service Director Julia Pierson in October.

Scandals have plagued the Secret Service for some time. In April 2012, President Barack Obama's advance security team was accused of getting drunk and disclosing details about his trip to prostitutes in Cartagena, Colombia, ahead of a summit in which Obama participated with other world leaders. The lead investigator on an internal review of the prostitution scandal also resigned as a result of his own incident involving a prostitute in May 2014.