The man who jumped over the White House fence and ‘disrupted the Obama’s Thanksgiving’ has now been charged.
Secret Service spokesman Robert Hoback announced via email on Friday that 22-year-old Joseph Caputo, of Stamford, Connecticut, was slapped with an unlawful entry count.
At around 2.45pm Thursday, the 22-year-old suspect scaled the north fence line of the White House grounds before immediately surrendering to the Secret Service.
President Obama and his family were tucking into their turkey dinner when they were put on lockdown so armed guards could conduct a sweep of the grounds following the security breach.
Caputo – who was carrying a file binder between his teeth – has previously hosted events calling for the Constitution to be scrapped and posted a Facebook status about Thanksgiving and the Constitution just a few hours before leaping over the fence.
The Secret Service later found a car linked to Caputo parked three miles away from the White House. The Ford Taurus had Connecticut plates spelling ‘caputs’.
It is unclear what was inside the folder he was carrying, but based on his political ramblings online, it may have been a letter for President Obama.
Vanessa Pena, a woman who was outside the White House when Caputo scale the iron fence, says she heard Caputo take a deep breath and then say, ‘All right, let’s do this’.
‘He was walking toward the White House with his hands up,’ said the witness, who did not wish to be named. ‘The police told us to move away as quickly as possible. I looked over my shoulder. I was scared.’
Read More: Man who jumped over White House fence charged with unlawful entry
