Naked man arrested outside White House gate

WASHINGTON – Secret Service police on Friday arrested a man who stripped naked outside the White House fence and fought with officers.

A Secret Service spokesman identified the man as Michel Bechard and said he was charged with assault and indecent exposure.

Bechard had approached uniformed Secret Service officers at a White House security checkpoint at about 3 p.m. EDT (8.00 p.m. BST) and then “proceeded to get fully undressed,” the spokesman said. Officers subdued the man, covered him and sent him to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries suffered in the tussle.

A reporter for the Daily Caller website, who was entering the White House through the same checkpoint, said the man had told the Secret Service officers he had a 3 p.m. appointment with President Barack Obama and presented his identification. The reporter said the ID was rejected because it was from a foreign country and the man then began undressing while insisting that he had to keep his appointment with Obama.