A man has been detained after allegedly stalking Malia Obama at her New York internship and asking her to marry him, according to reports.
The New York Daily News has reported Jair Nilton Cardoso, 30, visited the 18-year-old former first daughter twice while she was working internships at two separate locations.
Cardoso was first spotted at the building on April 10, where he placed a sign in the window of a Tribeca building and "loudly begged [Obama] to marry him", according to sources.
He was removed from the building by Obama's Secret Service agents.
However, her security team spotted the man following Obama out of a building in the West Village two days later. According to the Daily News, they recognised him as a man who had "repeatedly tried to get into the White House in the past".
After the Secret Service agents visited Cardoso at his Brooklyn apartment the following day, he agreed to submit to a psychiatric evaluation. It is understood no charges have been laid at this point in time.
In an odd choice of words, the Daily News report described Cardoso as "lovelorn", prompting a swift backlash on social media.
Calling this Malia stalker "lovelorn" ignores how terrifying it can be to have a stranger violate ur space & privacy https://t.co/2YXE8gCh8L??? Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) April 19, 2017
@maggieNYT It also attempts to make a stalker look sympathetic instead of a threat. #boundaries #NoMeansNo??? Maxine Baptiste (@brownsugar7878) April 19, 2017
Can we just never ever use the adjective "lovelorn" in re a stalker thanks. https://t.co/XsNadyCfyL??? Samantha B (@samanthadjb) April 19, 2017
Malia Obama began her internship with The Weinstein Company, whose offices are in New York's Tribeca neighbourhood, in January.
It is not her first experience of work in the entertainment industry. In 2015, the teenager was an intern on the set of HBO's Girls.
After graduating high school last year, Obama is currently on a gap year. She will start at Harvard in September.
