White House Intruder Identified as 26-Year-Old Unemployed Man

An intruder carrying a backpack arrested after scaling a fence around the White House and entering the grounds has been identified as 26-year-old Jonathan Tran.

He was charged with entering or remaining in restricted building or grounds while using or carrying a dangerous weapon in a D.C. courtroom Saturday afternoon.

CNN reported that Tran had two cans of Mace in his backpack and that his family said he had been living in his car and eating junk food after being laid off from his job.

President Donald Trump was inside the White House when Tran climbed over the fence on the complex's South Grounds at 11:38 p.m. on Friday, and uniformed officers arrested him, the Secret Service said in a statement.

He was quoted by CNN as telling the agents that he was a friend of the president and had an appointment with him.

Trump thanked the service on Saturday afternoon, and commended the agents for apprehending the intruder.

"Secret Service did a fantastic job," Trump told reporters at the start of a working lunch with several Cabinet members at his golf course outside Washington. "It was a troubled person."

The incident unfolded despite a series of recommendations to tighten security after a 2014 intrusion that led to the resignation of Secret Service director Julia Pierson.

In 2015, a row of sharp spikes was bolted to the top of the black iron fence around the 18-acre property, making it more difficult to scale.

In the latest incident, the suspect was apprehended near the south portico entrance, where presidents often address the public, CNN said. The entrance is near the part of the White House where the president resides.

The backpack carried by the intruder was screened and searched as a precaution, and no hazardous material was found, according the statement. The Secret Service searched the north and south grounds but nothing of concern turned up.

The suspect had no arrest record or history with the agency charged with protecting the president, his family and other elected officials, the service said in a statement.