White House on lockdown due to unattended package - report

16 Sep, 2015 19:36 / Updated 9 years ago

The White House is on lockdown due to an unattended package found in a nearby park, according to the Secret Service.

The security procedure was triggered when a package was found across the street in Lafayette Park Secret Service spokeswoman Nicole Mainor told Reuters. Bomb technicians and the DC fire department were called to the scene.

President Obama was not at the White House at the time of the lockdown, Reuters said.

The lockdown was lifted shortly after the package was declared safe by the Secret Service.

Because President Obama had, only hours earlier, extended a White House invitation to a Muslim teen falsely accused of bringing a bomb to his school, many Twitter users joked that it may have been the clock that the student made. 

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