U.S. Secret Service placed the White House on lockdown at around 1:15 p.m. Tuesday afternoon after a suspicious package was found near the North Lawn.
About an hour later, the Secret Service and Washington, D.C. police investigated the package and cleared the scene. The lockdown was lifted a short time later.
@SecretService and @DCPoliceDept have cleared the unattended package near the north fence line of the @WhiteHouse Complex
— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) August 22, 2017
Construction work and landscaping on the North Lawn came to a halt and reporters were directed to hold in the James S. Brady briefing room.
President Trump is not in the building having just left Washington, D.C., for a rally in Arizona Tuesday night.
The Secret Service tweeted pedestrian traffic near the scene was restricted.
Pedestrian traffic along Penn Ave between 15th & 17th and the area of LaFayette Park is restricted due to law enforcement activity.
— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) August 22, 2017
This story is developing.
