Man who jumped White House fence was armed with knife

The man who was recently apprehended for sneaking into the White House was carrying a 3 1/2-inch knife with him and has claimed that he was a veteran of three tours in Iraq.

ABC News reports that according to a police affidavit, 42-year-old Omar Gonzalez of Copperas Cove, Texas, was carrying a three and a half inch Spyderco VG-10 black serrated folding knife in his front pants pocket when he was arrested.

After he was detained, Gonzalez told a Secret Service agent "he was concerned that the atmosphere was collapsing and need to get the information to the President of the United States so that he could get the word out to people."

The affidavit said that he told officials that he served 18 years in the military and did three tours in Iraq.

Meanwhile, following the Friday incident, security is being beefed up at the White House.

The White House witnessed a rare evacuation on Friday after a man managed to jump over the fence of the official residence of US President, and slipped through the front door before being detained by officers.

According to ABC News, the security breach was likely to renew intense scrutiny of the Secret Service, an agency whose storied history has been marred in recent years by multiple allegations of misconduct by officers.

The incident took place right after US President Barack Obama along with his daughters and a guest left on a Marine One to Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland where Obama and his family were to spend the weekend, the report said.