Officials claimed Tuesday that a Missouri man, 19, who is accused of crashing a truck into barriers close to the White House, made damning comments that led investigators to believe he intended to hurt the president.
U.S. Park Police identified the driver as Sai Varshith Kandula of Chesterfield on Tuesday morning.
The allegations against Kandula for allegedly "threatening to kill, kidnap, inflict harm on a president, vice president, or family member," according to a Secret Service official, are the result of remarks he made to many law enforcement agencies.
According to the agency official, Secret Service detectives examined the suspect on Monday night as part of the continuing investigation that also includes the FBI, U.S. Capitol Police, and United States Park Police.
Kandula was also charged with trespassing, assault with a deadly weapon, and careless driving, NBC News reported.
According to early evidence, Kandula "intentionally crashed" into the bollards outside Lafayette Park, authorities say.
Authorities removed a Nazi flag from the location of the event.
Nobody was hurt.
The man was soon apprehended despite making threatening remarks regarding the White House, a law enforcement official told NBC News.
The official stated without offering any other information regarding the occurrence that the truck was discovered to be devoid of any explosives or weapons.
The official said, "I don't think there's any place for a Nazi flag or the statements that he made."
Just before 10 p.m. ET, a white U-Haul box truck struck the barriers on the north side of Lafayette Square, not far from the White House.
President Joe Biden's exact whereabouts at the time of the incident were unclear.
He held a meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy over the debt ceiling on Monday night at the White House.
"There were no injuries to any Secret Service or White House personnel and the cause and manner of the crash remain under investigation," Anthony Guglielmi, the Secret Service chief of communications, said in a statement Monday night.
Guglielmi said in a later statement posted to Twitter that the truck had been deemed safe by Washington D.C. police and that "preliminary investigation reveals the driver may have intentionally struck the security barriers." Park Police would file charges with investigative support from the Secret Service, Guglielmi said.
A photo of a red flag with a swastika in the shape of a Nazi star that was lying on the ground next to the van was released by the Reuters news agency.
According to Reuters, which cited its own photographer on the scene and a witness, these and other items of evidence that were reportedly retrieved from the truck had been put on the pavement before being taken by police.
No remarks about the flag have been made by the authorities. When NBC News contacted the White House for comment, they were sent to the Secret Service.
Later, in video footage, a robot was seen unlocking the truck's rear, which looked to be empty.
A representative for the neighboring Hay Adams hotel told NBC News that after being ordered to leave, guests were later permitted to return at 1 a.m. ET on Tuesday.
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