As protests in response to the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers continued outside the White House, President Donald Trump was reportedly taken into an underground bunker by the Secret Service for about an hour Friday evening.

The report comes via CNN just now, where CNN senior national correspondent Alex Marquardt was reporting live from Washington, D.C. during a program hosted by Don Lemon.

Marquardt discussed the protests that had occurred in D.C. and many other cities across America over the past few nights. Like several other cities, D.C. has imposed a curfew, effective at 11:00 pm local time.

Marquardt noted that the protest had been peaceful during the day, but expected that it would start to get “violent” and “unruly” as the sun was setting. The National Guard has been deployed in D.C. to help keep order and was continuing to assist D.C. police and federal park service officers specifically in attempting to maintain distance between the protesters and the White House.

Lemon then read a breaking news report, stating that while protesters gathered outside the White House Friday evening, Trump was ” briefly taken to the White House underground bunker for a period of time,” citing as sources a “White House official” and a “law enforcement source.”

Trump was reportedly in the bunker for a little under an hour before being brought back upstairs. It was unknown whether his wife Melania Trump or son Barron Trump accompanied him.

“Things got a bit serious,” said Lemon about Trump being brought down to the bunker. “That’s only done when there’s a real emergency at the White House.”

Marquardt agreed with Lemon, calling it an “extraordinary development,” adding, “That does show there was a significant fear of the situation that was unfolding out here.”

Moreover, he said, it might explain Trump’s “flurry of tweets” on Saturday morning that were directed at the protesters, saying that the Secret Service was ready to unleash “the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons.” Trump’s tweets were “met with fury” from the mayor of D.C. who called him extremely divisive and essentially accused him of inciting violence, and increasing the tension between the city government and the White House.

“Clearly, those around the president on Friday night felt that the protests had gotten violent enough to warrant taking the president down into that underground bunker in the White House,” concluded Marquardt.

Watch the video above, via CNN.

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