Bomb squad responds to suspicious package near White House
The United States Secret Service arrested a man after he climbed a gate at the US Treasury building in Washington DC as police deployed a bomb squad to investigate a 'suspicious package' he left near the White House. Officers cordoned off the area and restricted pedestrian and vehicle traffic as specialists from the Metropolitan Police Department's Explosive Ordinance Disposal unit examined the object the unidentified man left on the sidewalk outside of the fence at around 2.30pm on Sunday.
The Treasury building is located right next to the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue, but President Donald Trump was overseas in Scotland meeting with European Union Commission President Ursuala von der Leyen (pictured) at the time. Authorities ultimately concluded that the bag was not an explosive device, a Secret Service spokesperson said in a statement, and the roads were reopened.
The suspect was then charged with unlawful entry and in connection with an outstanding warrant. He was taken to a local hospital for a medical evaluation. It remains unclear what the man's motivation may have been for scaling the fence to the Treasury building. But his arrest came just hours after hundreds of protesters gathered outside the White House to protest the blockade of aid to the Gaza Strip, according to the Anadolu Agency.
The group marched from Lafayette Square to the home of the president to demand an end to the blockade and United States support for Israel. Some even displayed photos of children who have died in Gaza from malnutrition and re-enacted the deaths of Palestinians who were killed seeking food.
Organizer Hazami Barmada explained on Instagram that the protest was designed to push for 'food for Gaza, for unrestricted aid, for the humanity and dignity of Palestinians to stop being taken away or stripped by Israel.' She also urged the White House to 'do its job' and help end the blockade. But as the protest raged on, President Trump promised additional U.S. food aid to combat starvation in Gaza.
He also complained that the United States doesn't get credit for the aid it is providing to the area, and vowed to press other nations to do more. 'People don't know this – and we didn't certainly get any acknowledgement or thank you, but we contributed $60 million to food and supplies and everything else,' said Trump.
'We hope the money gets there, because you know, that money gets taken. The food gets taken. We're going to do more, but we gave a lot of money. Nobody acknowledged it. Nobody talks about it,' Trump complained. 'And it makes you feel a little bad when you do that. And you know, you have other countries not giving anything.' 'The US is going to do more aid for Gaza but we'd like to have other countries participate,' the president said. 'It would be nice to have at least a thank you,' Trump continued.
His remarks came after Israel announced it would provide 10-hour 'tactical' pauses to allow food aid deliveries amid the humanitarian crisis and the breakdown in talks for a ceasefire that would free remaining hostages that Hamas took after the October 7 attack on Israel.
It has made other allowances for aid since beginning its attacks following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack inside Israel. But the blockade and difficulty for people to move and access food and medicine has led to reports of widespread hunger.
'If we weren't there, I think people would have starved, frankly – they would have starved. And it's not like they're eating well, but a lot of that food is getting stolen by stolen by Hamas. You know, they're stealing the food. They're stealing a lot of things. You ship it in, and they steal it, then they sell it,' Trump said.
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