WASHINGTON: A homeless man who triggered a security alert when he jumped the White House fence and ran into the building with a knife had 800 rounds of ammunition in his car, a court heard on Monday.

Former US Army soldier Omar Gonzalez, 42, was arrested on Friday after he evaded the outer layer of security around the US presidential residence and made it inside before being tackled.

“Mr Gonzalez’s preoccupation with the White House and accumulation of a large amount of ammunition ... renders him a danger to the president,” US prosecutor David Mudd said.

In addition to the ammunition, found in a car parked near the White House, investigators uncovered two hatchets and a machete. Mudd made no mention of any firearms.

The prosecutor told the court that the suspect was already facing charges in the US state of Virginia over an illegal sawed-off shotgun found in his vehicle.

On that occasion, Mudd said, he was also found in possession of a map with the locations of the White House and of a Masonic temple in the Washington DC suburbs circled. The defendant was remanded in custody pending a preliminary hearing on October 1.

Described as “homeless and penniless,” he was assigned a public defender who declined an opportunity to seek a psychiatric assessment of his client.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2014