Man tries to set himself on fire outside White House

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The Secret Service responded Friday after a man lit himself on fire outside the White House.

Four uniformed Secret Service officers were seen apprehending the man and carrying him face-down out of Lafayette Square, which is across the street from the executive mansion.

{mosads}The man was riding an “electronic wheelchair-type scooter” when he set his jacket on fire while sitting on Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House grounds, the agency said. Uniformed officers “immediately responded, extinguished the fire and rendered first aid.”

The man was later sent to a local hospital with “what appears to be non-life threatening injuries,” the Secret Service said.

Officers shut down Pennsylvania Avenue to the public and ushered people off the North Lawn, where television reporters appear on camera. Law enforcement also closed a block-long stretch of 17th Street NW to vehicles while police and fire personnel responded to the incident.

—Updated at 4:02 p.m.

Tags Secret Service United States Secret Service

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