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Contractor Arrested For Attempted Murder When He Got To Work — At The White House

Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
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Martese Edwards, a contractor who worked for the White House National Security Council, was taken into custody Tuesday when he arrived at work and showed his identification at a Secret Service check point.

The Secret Service released a statement saying that they had been informed of a warrant issued for Edwards, who was wanted on attempted murder charges in Maryland.

“On June 4, 2018, the U.S. Secret Service was notified by the Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) that Martese Edwards was the subject of a warrant issued out of Prince Georges County, MD. On June 5, 2018, Edwards was promptly arrested by Secret Service Uniformed Division Officers at a checkpoint outside of the White House complex when he was reporting to work as a contractor. Edwards was transported to MPD Second District for processing.”

CBS’s Paula Reid gave a few more details, saying that the warrant was issued in mid-May. She explained that Edwards had likely passed his background check and begun working at the White House before the warrant was issued — and noted that although the Secret Service routinely checks personnel against active warrants, they may not run those comparisons every time a given person checks in.

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Other reports indicate that Prince George’s County had not entered Martese’s warrant into the database until a few weeks after it was issued, raising additional questions.

According to The Hill, Edwards was charged in a Washington, D.C. court on Tuesday with being a fugitive from justice. He faces extradition to Maryland, where he is charged with attempted first-degree murder.