The United States Secret Service said that it arrested a 19-year-old they believe might have “ intentionally” crashed a U-Haul truck into a security barrier at a park across from the White House, on Monday night (May 22). No injuries were reported due to the incident.
What we know about the incident
According to the Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi, the incident occurred at around 10:00 pm (local time) and the suspect was later identified as a 19-year-old from Chesterfield, a city in St. Louis County in the US state of Missouri.
The U-Haul truck’s driver crashed into a security barrier near the north side of Lafayette Square, said the Secret Service spokesperson. Images from the scene show multiple police personnel both from the Secret Service and the Metropolitan Police Department. The officials also searched the truck after the crash.
A Reuters witness said investigators found a Nazi swastika flag which supposedly came from inside the truck. Media reports citing footage from WUSA-TV reported that police officers retrieved several items from the truck including the flag which was placed in evidence bags.
The footage also showed a box-type, U-Haul truck stopping alongside the steel barricades with multiple officers and a dog approaching the vehicle following the crash, reported Reuters.
Charges against the suspect
As per the preliminary investigation, the driver “may have intentionally struck the security barriers at Lafayette Square,” said Guglielmi. However, the name of the suspect was not revealed by the authorities.
Earlier, Guglielmi had also said that the US Park Police would file charges with investigative support from the Secret Service. According to Park Police, the suspect has been arrested on multiple charges – threatening to kill, kidnap or inflict harm on a president, vice president or member of their family; assault with a dangerous weapon; reckless driving; destruction of federal property; and trespassing.
It was not immediately clear where US President Joe Biden was at the time of the incident but he had met with the Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy at the White House earlier in the day to discuss the US debt ceiling.
A witness to the crash, Chris Zaboji, told Reuters who also posted a clip of the incident that the truck drove into the barricades. He also told the news agency that after crashing once, the driver hit the barriers a second time.
“I was walking home from my run on the mall and went through the barricade maybe 20 seconds before they hit the first time. After they rammed it the second time I decided it was time to get the hell out of there,” said Zaboji, on Twitter after posting the clip.
(With inputs from agencies)
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