A man from Missouri was arr*sted after he allegedly drove a U-Haul truck through a security fence at the park adjacent to the White House. According to Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi, the incident occurred around 10:00 p.m. (02:00 GMT Tuesday) on Monday, when the driver of a box truck collided with a barrier on the north side of Lafayette Square.
Sai Varshith Kandula, 19, was discovered to be from the St. Louis neighborhood of Chesterfield. The collision caused no serious injuries. Chris Zaboji, an eyewitness, stated that the driver collided with the barrier multiple times.
Washington resident and 25-year-old pilot Zaboji were nearing the end of his run near Lafayette Square when he heard the jarring impact of the U-Haul truck colliding into the barrier. Before he heard the sirens, he pulled out his phone, he said and recorded the moment the truck slammed through the barrier for a second time.
“When the van backed up and rammed it again, I decided I wanted to get out of there,” he said. After the collision, the truck was searched by the Secret Service and the Metropolitan Police Department. WUSA-TV’s footage shows a responding officer taking multiple items, including a Nazi flag, from the truck for further investigation.
Initial findings suggest the motorist “may have intentionally struck the security barriers at Lafayette Square,” as Guglielmi put it. There was no additional information provided by authorities on a probable motive.
Multiple accusations, including threatening to kill, abduct, or inflict harm on a president, vice president, or member of their family, assault with a deadly we@pon, reckless driving, destruction of government property, and trespassing, were reportedly filed against Kandula after his detention by the US Park Police.
The following tweet confirms the report of a man cr@shing a U-haul truck:
Driver Who Crashed Near White House Told Officials He Was Prepared to Kill Biden and ‘Seize Power' https://t.co/GVS1b1wmzA
— NBC Chicago (@nbcchicago) May 23, 2023
There was no lawyer identified for Kandula in court documents, and various phone numbers listed under his surname in public documents were disconnected when The Associated Press tried to call them on Tuesday.
One of the most well-known demonstration sites in the country is Lafayette Square, which boasts arguably the best public view of the White House. At the height of nationwide protests against police methods following the k!lling of George Floyd in Minneapolis, federal officials gated off the area, closing the park for nearly a year before it reopened in May 2021.
The California Examiner is a must-read for anybody interested in staying current on state and regional news in the Golden State.
We have included links below so that you can learn more about the recent cr@shes:
- Missouri Semi-truck Driver K!lled in Railway Crash
- Multi-car Crash in South San Jose K!lls One, Injures 3
