White House put under lockdown after a man set himself alight outside North Lawn

A fire scare outside the North Lawn of the White House forced the secret service and law enforcement officials to put the property under Lockdown. It seems a man arrived there on his mobility scooter. He wore a jacket, which he set on fire. Law enforcement agencies arrested him, extinguished the fire, and administered first aid. There was a suspicious package found near the suspect. He is understood to be suffering from issues related to mental health. Immediately after the incident, the secret service jumped into action to clear the surrounding areas of the White House and the media had to remain in the West Wing.

The police have not disclosed the identity of the man.

Daily Mail UK reports that President Donald Trump was present in the premises at the time but there was no danger to him. The timing of the incident was soon after the president spoke in the Roosevelt Room about the nation's 5G network.

The police acted promptly to man on fire

Secret service personnel who guard the White House are always alive to any unnatural happening in or around the premises and in this case, they responded promptly. The man was operating an electric wheelchair-type scooter. He set fire to his outer jacket while he was sitting in it outside the North Fence Line.

The on-duty personnel extinguished the fire and rendered first aid. He was later shifted to a local hospital and the injuries he suffered are of the non-life-threatening type.

There was a suspicious package, which is under investigation.

Daily Mail UK says a witness saw the man recording the incident of the burning jacket and it could have been a sort of demonstration. The witness adds that the man did not heed orders of the security personnel to put the jacket down. As a precautionary measure, the Secret Service closed some roads adjacent to the White House to pedestrian traffic and put portions of the complex under lockdown.

It is a part of their standard drill when something out of the ordinary happens.

There was a scare at the White House

According to the New York Post, a person in a motorized wheelchair set fire to his jacket in front of the White House in broad daylight. Obviously, he wanted to pass on a message of sorts to the world at large and selected a method that would get instant attention. In this case, the Secret Service personnel swung into action, subdued him and moved him out of harm’s way and into a hospital. The authorities have launched an investigation to ferret out the antecedents of the individual and ascertain his intentions. This is not the first time that the White House was put under lockdown. In March last year, the discovery of a suspicious package led to a scare and lockdown because it is the most important building in the world and a security breach cannot be tolerated.