SECURITYWhite House lockdown sparked by Lafayette Park car crash

The White House was briefly locked down on Monday 9 November 2026 after a car crashed onto the sidewalk on the north side of Lafayette Park, near 16th and H Streets NW, just before 10:00 am. The Secret Service said the driver “was combative with law enforcement, but was quickly placed under arrest.”

Around the same time, a second person jumped a barricade near the northwest corner of Lafayette Park and was also arrested. The Metropolitan Police Department’s explosive ordnance disposal team was called to sweep the vehicle as a precaution, and roads around Lafayette Park were closed.