Police have arrested a Missouri man who they believe intentionally drove a U-Haul truck into a park fence across from the White House.
The driver of the box truck crashed into a fence near the north side of Lafayette Square at about 10 p.m. (2 a.m. GMT Tuesday), Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement. He has been identified as 19-year-old Sai Varshith Kandula from the St Louis suburb of Chesterfield. No one was injured in the accident.
Witness Chris Zaboji said the driver crashed into the fence at least twice. Zaboji, a 25-year-old pilot who lives in Washington, D.C., was finishing his run near Lafayette Square when he heard a U-Haul truck crash loudly into a barrier. He said he took out his phone and recorded the moment the truck hit the fence again before hearing sirens approaching.
"When the van overturned and crashed again, I decided I wanted to get out of there," he said.
After the accident, the intelligence service police and the Metropolitan Police are looking for the truck. Video posted by WUSA-TV shows police retrieving and disposing of several pieces of evidence from the truck, including a Nazi flag. Based on the initial investigation, investigators believe the driver "may have intentionally crashed into the railing at Lafayette Square," Guglielmi said. The authorities did not provide detailed information about a possible motive.
The U.S. Park Service said Kandula was arrested on multiple charges, including threatening to kill, rob or harm the president, vice president or a member of their family; assault with a dangerous weapon; reckless driving; destruction of federal property; and penetration. An attorney was listed on Kandula's registry, several phone numbers listed under his last name in public records were without service, and efforts by The Associated Press to reach relatives who could speak on his behalf Tuesday were not immediately successful.
Lafayette Square, which offers perhaps the best view of the White House available to the public, has long been one of the most visible protest sites in the country. The park was closed for nearly a year after federal authorities cordoned off the area at the height of nationwide protests against police tactics in Minneapolis following the killing of George Floyd, but reopened in May 2021.
Source: Aljazeera
blogpay
