White House contractor arrested on attempted murder charge: reports

A contractor working at the White House was arrested Tuesday after Secret Service agents noticed that his name matched that of a man with an outstanding warrant on a charge of attempted first-degree murder.

Secret Service officials confirmed to The Washington Post that Martese Edwards, 29, was taken into custody just after noon on Tuesday after his name was found to match one with an outstanding warrant.

CBS News reported that Edwards worked as a contractor for the White House National Security Council. 

The Secret Service did not say what charges the man faces, but authorities in Prince George’s County, Md., separately told the Post that Edwards’s name matched one with an outstanding warrant for attempted first-degree murder.

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A spokesman for the sheriff’s office told the Post that the warrant was taken out against Edwards on May 17. Secret Service officials confirmed that Edwards worked as a private contractor at the White House, but did not confirm his specific job.

Edwards was charged Tuesday with being a fugitive from justice in Washington, D.C., court, and could later be extradited to Maryland to face the attempted murder charge.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Edwards’s arrest.

President Trump was at the White House on Tuesday, along with hundreds of invited guests for an alternative celebration after the NFL championship Philadelphia Eagles were uninvited from a planned visit.