President Obama and his family were tucking into their turkey dinner
when they were put on lockdown so the Secret Service could conduct a
sweep of the grounds following the security breach.
CNN reports that Joseph Caputo - who was wearing a
baseball shirt, gloves and the flag as a cape when he hopped the fence -
was immediately taken into custody. He also appeared to have a binder
in between his teeth as he climbed the metal railings.
Vanessa Pena, an intern on Capitol Hill, was playing tourist with her
twin sister who was in town for Thanksgiving. "We were just standing
there and the man came up behind us," she told CNN. "I heard him take a
deep breath and say, 'All right, let's do this.'"
Joseph Caputo scaled a fence on the North Lawn at 2:45 p.m., according
to Secret Service spokesperson Robert Hoback. The jumper was immediately
apprehended and taken into custody.
According to two CNN photojournalists who witnessed the incident, the
men was carrying an envelope, had on a blue shirt and white pants and
was cloaked in an American flag. They said the officers who detained him
had their guns drawn and were accompanied by K-9 units.
Pena said the man "ran through" she and her sister before he jumped over a barricade, and then the fence.
Though the White House issued an official "all clear" about two hours
after the episode began, the north and south fence lines remained
temporarily closed Thursday evening.
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