UPDATE 10:53 PM EST
The man responsible for the drone breaching security at The White House has come forward to “self-report” the incident, according to Fox News.
An official told the press that the drone flying onto the property was an accident, and was reportedly being used for recreation. He is said to be cooperating with investigators, and was revealed to be a government employee, however he does not work for The White House.
Secret Service spokeswoman Nicole B. Mainor told reports:
“This investigation continues as the Secret Service conducts corroborative interviews, forensic examinations and reviews all other investigative leads.”
—
An electronic device identified as a “small aerial drone” by the New York Times landed on White House grounds, sending security teams swarming around the presidential mansion early Monday, officials say.
The device, which landed in a tree around 3:00 a.m., is not believed to be a threat, according to a federal law enforcement official.
The perimeter of the White house was on lockdown until about 5:00 a.m. while police, fire, and other emergency vehicles surveyed the area.
“There is a device that has been recovered by the Secret Service at the White House,” said press secretary Josh Earnest. “The early indications are that it does not pose any sort of ongoing threat to anybody at the White House.”
Earnest spoke from New Delhi, where Obama and his wife, Michelle, were on a three-day visit. They also planned to stop in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday before they return to Washington.
It’s not clear whether the president’s daughters were at home at the time of the incident.
The security breach is the latest of many — last year, an armed Texas man made his way into the White House, and another armed man with an arrest record rode an elevator with the president at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Four of the agency’s highest-ranking executives were reassigned earlier this month. Former Director Julia Pierson was forced to resign last year after a Texas man armed with a knife was able to get over a White House fence in September and run deep into the executive mansion before being subdued.
An independent panel, which investigated the agency’s leadership and practices in the wake of the September incident and the disclosure of a previously unreported security breach earlier that month, recommended hiring a new director from outside the agency.
An investigation continues.
SOURCE: NBC, Fox News | VIDEO SOURCE: News Inc.
