A man from Texas has been arrested near the White House after he allegedly traveled to Washington, D.C. and threatened to kill white police officers, the Secret Service says. He was not armed at the time of his arrest.
The White House was put on alert just before 3 p.m. ET on Monday when the Secret Service was notified to be on the lookout for Michael Arega, who had reportedly traveled to Washington, D.C. for the purpose of killing “all white police” at the White House.
The warning was issued by the Montgomery County Police Department in Maryland, but it was not immediately known what led to the alert. “Secret Service personnel at the White House immediately increased their posture of readiness and began searching for Arega,” the Secret Service said.
About an hour later, at 4:05 p.m., Arega was spotted on the north side of Pennsylvania Avenue near Lafayette Square, which is a public park directly across the White House. “Arega was immediately detained by Secret Service Uniformed Division Officers and subsequently arrested without incident,” the Secret Service said.
Arega, who is from Dallas, was transported to the Metropolitan Police Department where he was later charged with Making Felony Threats. Specific details about the case were not immediately available, but the Secret Service said Arega was not armed with a weapon at the time of his arrest.
A spokesperson for the Montgomery County Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for further information.
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