White House incident: Secret service arrest man who 'tried to light himself on fire'
Officials said man on scooter taken to hospital after trying to set jacket alight
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Witnesses have told how police and Secret Service officers rushed to stop a man who apparently tried to set fire to himself outside the White House.
A succession of reporters, whose job is normally to cover Donald Trump and his administration, tweeted images of police or secret service pushing somebody to the ground.
The person was later seen being carried away from the presidential residence on Pennsylvania Avenue, where Mr Trump was inside.
"Someone apparently set himself on fire in front of the White House just now. I was coming out of the West Wing, and the Secret Service isn’t letting anyone out onto Pennsylvania Ave," tweeted Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times.
Jeremy Diamond of CNN wrote: “Secret service spokeswoman tells me a man set his jacket on fire in front of the White House. He is being treated for injuries. No threat to the president”
The Secret Service said on Twitter it was “responding to a police/medical incident on Pennsylvania Ave, along the White House north fence line”.
It added: “UPDATE: Pennsylvania Ave. is closed to pedestrian traffic, 17th street between H and G is closed to vehicular traffic.
The Washington Post said that Doug Buchanan, a spokesman for the DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services, said emergency teams responded after a man riding a scooter apparently set his jacket on fire.
He said the fire was extinguished by the time firefighters arrived at the scene.
Mr Buchanan said the person was taken to an area hospital with injuries not believed to be life threatening, following the incident that took place around 3pm EST.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments