Secret Service arrests Iowa man with gun outside White House

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- The Secret Service on Wednesday arrested an Iowa man who drove to the White House with a gun and ammunition in his vehicle.

Renae Kapheim, 41, of Davenport, Iowa, was charged with possession of an illegal firearm after a search of his vehicle.

A senior law enforcement official told The New York Times Kapheim approached Secret Service officers about a block away from the White House.

"He said that someone had told him that he should come to the White House so he had driven to Washington to do so," the official said. "The officers interviewed him there and realized that there needed to be further investigating because something wasn't right."

The Secret Service found a hunting rifle and ammunition inside the trunk of Kapheim's vehicle, which was parked on 16th Street and Constitution Avenue.

The arrest came on the same day the new acting director of the Secret Service, Joseph Clancy, said the agency was considering raising the height of the fence surrounding the White House.

The agency came under fire earlier this month in an internal report that found that poor communication and lack of training led to a security breach allowing a man with a knife to jump the White House fence.

"Without question, the agency has been severely damaged in recent years by failures," Clancy said during a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee.

Clancy said the Secret Service is discussing the possibility of raising the height of the fence -- which currently stands at 7.5 feet tall -- with "partners," including the National Park Service and Capital Region Planning Commission.

"We have already started those discussions ... to see if there's something amenable to all the groups so that we keep the historic nature of the White House but also increase security," Clancy said.