WASHINGTON (AP) - An unidentified man was in Secret Service custody Tuesday night after he climbed over the White House fence.
Spokesman Ed Donovan said the man was immediately taken into custody by Secret Service agents who guard the complex around the clock. The man had a backpack that Donovan said was being examined for possible explosive material.
A CNN news crew caught some of the drama on tape as it unfolded. Video showed agents leading the man, as they held his hands behind his back, across the North Lawn on the Pennsylvania Avenue side of the White House, where tourists gather to take photographs.
Reporters still at work in the press room saw agents who are stationed closer to the White House with their weapons drawn.
At least one agent could be seen on the roof of the building peering through a pair of binoculars.
President Barack Obama was believed to be in the White House at the time.