Driver With Nazi Flag Crashes U-Haul Outside White House, Charged With Threat to Kill or Harm President
A U-Haul driver was arrested and charged with a number of crimes after crashing the truck into security barriers outside the White House, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The driver, whose identity has not yet been disclosed, reportedly crashed the U-Haul one block away from the White House at approximately 10 PM on Monday night.
The suspect faces the charge of threatening to kill, kidnap or inflict harm on a President, vice president, or family member, the U.S. Park Police said in a statement to the New York Post after the apparent attack.
The U.S. Park Police also confirmed the suspect faces further charges of assault with a dangerous weapon, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, destruction of federal property, and trespassing.
“Preliminary investigation reveals the driver may have intentionally struck the security barriers at Lafayette Square,” a spokesperson for the Secret Service, Anthony Guglielmi, added shortly after the suspected attack on Monday night.
Investigators also reportedly found a Nazi flag featuring a swastika in the suspect’s U-Haul after the box truck crashed onto the security barriers on the north side of Lafayette Square.
Other objects were strewn around the area following the crash, although bomb technicians called to the scene found no “explosives or incendiary devices” inside the vehicle.
Benjamin Berger, a witness who heard the initial crash before watching the suspect drive the U-Haul into the security barriers a second time, recounted the startling experience to NBC on Tuesday morning.
“I turn around and just see people running away from this U-Haul,” Berger explained.
“And then I thought he might have just crashed, or it might have been by accident, but then I saw the vehicle back up and hit it again,” the witness continued. “So I proceeded to run away as well.”
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Another witness uploaded a video of the suspected attack to Twitter less than two hours after it took place on Monday night.
"I decided it was time to get the hell out of there,” the witness, identified only as Chris, said.
The Secret Service ultimately evacuated a number of nearby establishments, such as the Hay-Adams Hotel, as a precaution as they investigated the incident alongside the FBI’s National Capital Response Squad and the U.S. Park Police.