The White House was briefly put on lockdown
Thursday as the Secret Service detained an individual
for flying a small drone in an adjacent park.
President Barack Obama was not in the residence at
the time.
In a statement, the Secret Service said the individual
was seen flying the Parrot Bebop device in Lafayette
Park at an altitude of about 100 feet (35 meters).
He was detained by uniformed Secret Service officers
as the park — filled at lunch hour on a sunny spring
day — was swiftly evacuated and the White House
was briefly put on lockdown.
“As a precaution, the small UAV was swept and
declared safe,” said the Secret Service, which
released a photo of the red quadracopter — a
popular consumer model with a video camera built
in.
The operator was later identified by the United
States Park Police as Ryan MacDonald, 39, of
Vacaville, California.
That police agency said in a statement that the man
was arrested “for violating federal law.” It did not
elaborate other than to say MacDonald was cited and
it is to appear in court.
Obama was meeting Gulf leaders at his rural Camp
David retreat in Maryland at the time of the incident.
Flying drones of any size is prohibited within the US
capital — a point that the Federal Aviation
Administration is underscoring in a “no-drone zone”
publicity campaign it launched earlier this week.
In January, a DJI Phantom drone — another
consumer model — crashed onto the White House
grounds after it slipped out of the control of the
federal employee who was flying it in the early hours
of the morning.
The incident was deemed to be an accident and no
charges were filed.
A similar Parrot Bebop, weighing about one pound
(500 grams), was flown indoors in January at the
Capitol during a House of Representatives committee
hearing on unmanned aircraft technology.


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