Man Carrying Rifle, Ammo in Car Is Arrested Near the White House

A man who drove into a restricted area near the White House was arrested Friday after police found a rifle in the trunk of his car.

Melvin Doyle Glover, 63, was ordered held without bond pending a psychiatric evaluation.

He apparently followed a city bus through a checkpoint a block east of the White House, said Secret Service spokesman Eric Harnischfeger. He said it appears that Glover was unaware he was in a restricted area.

A .22-caliber rifle was found in the trunk of the car, which bore Texas license plates. Also taken from the car were several rounds of ammunition, a knife and a machete.

Harnischfeger says Glover was following a bus that agents had routinely let through the checkpoint. He obeyed orders to stop outside the Treasury Department, just east of the White House.

Two blocks of Pennsylvania Avenue and some other streets around the White House were closed to vehicles earlier this year as a security precaution. The Clintons were in Europe on Friday.

Glover was charged under District of Columbia laws with possession of unregistered and prohibited weapons and ammunition, and with carrying a dangerous weapon.

Answering questions in court, Glover said he was a preacher “anointed by the Holy Ghost,” and he intended to seek a permit to preach near the White House.