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Saturday 22 April 2017

Trump's Secret Service Permanently Ends White House Sidewalk Access


The Trump administration has permanently shut down public access to the sidewalk outside of the south fence of the White House, among other restrictions, USA Today reported Wednesday.

That section of the street has been off-limits from 11:00pm to 6:00am since 2015, but it did not open again Thursday morning once it was shut down for the night on Wednesday. In a statement, the Secret Service said the sidewalk was closed off permanently to "lessen the possibility of individuals illegally accessing the White House grounds."
USA Today reports:

The new plan, outlined by agency officials, would attempt to replicate a buffer zone created on Pennsylvania Avenue, where iron bicycle racks were placed in front of the perimeter fence to provide officers additional time to react to fence jumpers.

On Wednesday, April 19, 2017 the U.S. Secret Service said it would end public access to a sidewalk along the south fence of the White House.

The sidewalk has been closed at nights from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. since 2015 and will now be off-limits entirely. 

Secret Service Communications Director Cathy Milhoan said the closure will “lessen the possibility of individuals illegally accessing the White House grounds”.  

In March, a man scaled a fence east of the White House at night and was on the property’s grounds for 16 minutes before being detained.

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