Guy With Pikachu Gear Caught Climbing Over White House Fence On 9/11
The Secret Service didn’t need a Poke’ Ball to catch the man wearing a Pikachu hat and shirt who climbed over the White House fence on 9/11. They were able to take him down the old-fashioned way. The guy was also carrying a stuffed Pikachu toy.
While President Obama was away from home, engaged in memorial services and remembrances of the tragedies of 9/11, a rather bizarre character was trying, unsuccessfully, to storm the White House, according to Polygon. It is unclear what attack he planned to use.
What is clear is that the Pikachu attack was not successful.
Like Ash in the Pokemon animated series, the Secret Service has a policy of “gotta catch ’em all” — all people who climb the White House fence, that is. The Daily Mail reports that the Secret Service takes all fence climbers and bags thrown over the fence seriously when it comes to the President’s residence, treating all such actions as potential serious threats.
The Pikachu-clad intruder was quickly taken down, and was photographed face down in the grass. He has since been arrested. The incident, which occurred around 6:20 p.m. Eastern time, prompted a lockdown of the White House, which lasted less than an hour.
UPDATE: The White House jumper was also carrying a Pikachu stuffed animal. pic.twitter.com/fhvKmZO2eg — Charlie Gile (@cwgile) September 11, 2014
It should be noted that, although Wikipedia says that Pikachu may be found “in houses, forests, plains, and occasionally near mountains, islands, and electrical sources (such as power plants), on most continents,” there is no mention of the Pokemon ever being found at the White House. Also, most Pokemon have a trainer, but there was no indication of anyone else connected with this Pikachu being found. He appears to have acted independently.
According to The Huffington Post, “The significance of the Pikachu costume was not immediately clear.”
Once the initial tension of the potential attack was diffused, onlookers were able to have some fun with the story, as they posted pictures and video to social media.
Secret Service completes card set MT @cwgile Man dressed in Pokemon garb jumped north lawn fence #whitehouse #pikachu pic.twitter.com/lJXwsYGwH9 — Adam Goldstein (@A_H_Goldstein) September 11, 2014
Great, now Pikachu is trying to attack the White House? — Nathan Wurtzel (@NathanWurtzel) September 11, 2014
Pikachu man caught in White House yard after jumping fence – will he be imprisoned in a pokéball? http://t.co/p36WLpLiS8 — Craig Thomler (@craigthomler) September 11, 2014
According to a previous Inquisitr article, Pikuchu was originally designed to be more muscular and scary-looking, instead of the cute fluff-ball that the kids have grown up with. If this fence jumper had been dressed like that version of the Pokemon, he might have scared people a bit more. Even though the Secret Service isn’t laughing, the rest of the country is.
If a fence hop by a guy wearing a Pikachu hat and shirt, carrying a stuffed Pikuchu toy, is the most serious attack America gets on 9/11, that is a good thing. What’s next, Charizard invades Congress?
