The secret service locked down the White House today, while Trump was on the premises, due to a suspicious package.
The lockdown lasted for approximately an hour while the secret service investigated the package. This is the second time the White House has been locked down in under one week.
From The Hill: The White House was placed on lockdown on Monday for the second time in less than a week after Secret Service responded to a suspicious package on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Reporters at the White House were ushered into the briefing room a short time after 11 a.m., though they were not given any information at the time.
Secret Service then tweeted that officers were responding to a suspicious package and that pedestrian traffic was closed along Pennsylvania Avenue outside the building and in Lafayette Park.
President Trump was at the White House at the time. His public schedule indicated that he was taking part in a photo with the 2019 Presidential Scholars around the time of the lockdown.
The Secret Service tweeted at about 12:30 p.m. that the package had been cleared. The lockdown was lifted a short time later.
Monday’s incident was the second time in a span of less than a week that reporters at the White House were urged to remain inside the building.
The White House was briefly placed on lockdown and nearby Lafayette Park were placed on lockdown last Wednesday.
Secret Service Uniformed Division Officers are responding to an incident involving a suspicious package located on Pennsylvania Ave. Pedestrian traffic is closed along Pennsylvania Ave. between 15th and 17th streets to include Lafayette Park. pic.twitter.com/t7veePoDb7
— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) June 24, 2019
UPDATE: The package along Pennsylvania Ave. has been declared safe by Secret Service and @DCPoliceDept. Pedestrian road closures will be lifted shortly.
— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) June 24, 2019
