A Missouri man who drove a rented box truck into security barriers near the White House was charged with threatening the president after authorities said they believe he may have deliberately crashed.
A Reuters witness saw investigators pull a Nazi swastika flag from inside the truck, which crashed into barriers at Lafayette Square, a public area one block from the White House compound, on Monday evening. Authorities have said nothing about what may have been behind the crash, which caused no injuries.
The driver, identified as Sai Varshith Kandula, 19, of Chesterfield, Missouri, was detained by the Secret Service.
Kandula faces a battery of charges, including threatening to kill, kidnap or inflict harm on the president, vice president or a family member, the U.S. Park Police said in a statement.
"Preliminary investigation reveals the driver may have intentionally struck the security barriers at Lafayette Square," Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said on Twitter.
The crash took place in the central section of Lafayette Square's north side, across H Street from the Hay-Adams hotel and St. John's Episcopal Church, two of the city's historic sites.
On Tuesday morning, there was little sign of the incident other than a black skid mark on a curb, a few Park rangers surveying the scene and some remaining TV crews.
For decades, Lafayette Square has been a prominent site for political protests and free-speech events. It was closed off in May 2020 by a perimeter fence installed after the Black Lives Matter protests. The fence has since been removed but barriers blocking traffic from the side streets remain.
Security around the White House and other federal buildings has steadily increased after a string of breaches and other incidents, including the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. In another incident in 2021, a vehicle struck two Capitol Police officers, killing one. The driver was shot and killed by police.
After Monday's crash, a video on WUSA television showed a remote-controlled robot opening the rear door of the box-type, U-Haul truck, revealing a dolly but no other obvious cargo.
Chris Zaboji, an airline pilot who lives in Washington, shot a brief video showing the incident unfolding and posted it on social media.
Hearing a loud bang, "I looked back and saw that the U-Haul van had rammed into the barricade," Zaboji said, adding that he left the scene after the truck plowed into the barriers a second time.
President Joe Biden's exact location at the time of the crash just before 10 p.m. (0200 GMT Tuesday) was unclear. He had met with Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy at the White House earlier Monday evening.
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