Washington – A small drone that crashed on the South Lawn of the White House early Monday was operated by a government employee who said it breached the secure perimeter by accident, The New York Times reported.
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The newspaper reported that the employee does not work for the White House and told the U.S. Secret Service that he was flying the unmanned “quadcopter” aircraft recreationally before he lost control.
A U.S. official says the man made contact with the Secret Service after reports of the crash spread in the media. The man told the Secret Service that he was using the drone recreationally and didn’t mean to fly it over the White House.
The official says the operator of the drone is a Washington resident and that he’s cooperating with investigators. Secret Service agents are now interviewing other people to corroborate the man’s story. The official says investigators don’t currently have any reason to doubt the man’s story.
The official wasn’t authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation publicly and spoke only on condition of anonymity.