Jessica Ford of La Vergne, Tennessee, is facing some serious federal charges after the 35-year-old deliberately rammed her white Chevrolet mini-van into the security barriers at the White House while President Donald Trump was in the residence. She attended her first court appearance Saturday afternoon (Feb. 24) at the Superior Court of the District of Colombia.

However, it turns out Ford is no stranger to the White House, as she was caught scaling the railings of the property last year, along with a third incident, and has a court order against her.

Her excuse this time is that she was meeting her fiancée, the US president.

Ford facing three charges for ramming the gates

The US Attorney’s Office has announced that Ford is facing charges on three separate offenses and that all are felonies. The first is an act of physical violence on restricted grounds with a deadly weapon (vehicle). This charge potentially carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. The second is related to resisting arrest and threatening with a dangerous weapon (vehicle) and the third is damage to government property, both of which charges have a maximum sentence of 20 years.

Ford yelled for her children during the incident

As reported by WUSA9, Ford was heard to scream on several occasions that she wanted her children back.

Her public defender, Gretchen Franklin, says her client is not a dangerous person and that she was not trying to hurt anyone. Initially, Ford told police she was visiting her husband, by the name of James Burris, at the White House, claiming that he lived here. However, once in court, Ford changed her story and said she was actually visiting her fiancée, naming US President Donald Trump.

However, according to Franklin, Ford feels somebody has taken her children and won’t return them to her.

As reported by ABC News, while the media has reported Ford as having a gun at the time of the incident, this was found to be a BB gun, which looked similar to a pistol.

Not Ford’s first attempt to enter the White House

Last year, a court order was taken out against Ford after she attempted to scale a fence and jump the security gates at the White House.

At that time she was ordered to stay away, but police say the court order had no effect on stopping her returning to the scene of her former crime.

Franklin went on to call the situation crazy, saying a person with major mental health problems is no mystery or secret. She went on to say that it’s time something was done for people with mental health issues. Meanwhile, Ford is set to appear in Federal District Court on Monday (Feb. 26).
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