Man Arrested On White House Lawn Was Trying To Speak To President About Health Care

A 26-year-old mentally disabled man who was was arrested on the White House lawn after jumping a fence was trying to get help from the president, his mother said Monday.

Jeffrey Grossman of Rensselaer, New York, was arrested Thursday by U.S. Secret Service agents after he scaled a White House fence. He was carrying a Pokemon doll and wearing a Pokemon-themed shirt at the time.

That's his best friend, his mother, Cathy Grossman, said of the doll during a Monday phone interview with The Albany Times-Union.

I was informed that, when he was apprehended, he told security that he had come to talk with the president about his health care program, she told The Record of Troy, New York.

She said her son was suffering from severe mental illness that didnt surface until Jeffrey Grossman was in college. He was having trouble getting help for the illness and wanted to know why.

After graduating from high school, her son enrolled at The College of Saint Rose and majored in business. Around the time of his junior year Grossman began showing signs of mental illness. A judge ordered that he be treated and placed on medication.

That got his life back on track and he was able to graduate from college. But he quit taking his medication, thinking he no longer needed it because it was making him feel better, Cathy Grossman, who is a pharmacist, explained.

Since graduation he has had some run-ins with the law, according to Rensselaer Police Sgt. Matthew McCoy.

Let's just say we had some odd occurrences here similar to what you saw in Washington, McCoy said.

Our police had notified the FBI. He's been saying things about the White House, Rensselaer Mayor Dan Dwyersaid.

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Man Arrested On White House Lawn Was Trying To Speak To President About Health Care