( NYPost )
The driver of a U-Haul truck that barreled into a security area near the White House has been arrested on multiple charges, including threatening to kill or harm a president — as a Nazi swastika flag was retrieved from the vehicle.
The man, whose identity has not been disclosed, crashed the box truck onto barriers on the north side of Lafayette Square — about a block from the White House — at about 10 p.m. Monday. The suspect faces the charge of threatening to kill, kidnap or inflict harm on a president, vice president or family member, the US Park Police said in a statement to The Post.
He also faces charges of assault with a dangerous weapon, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, destruction of federal property and trespassing, according to the agency. A video posted by the Insider Paper shows the dramatic moment the vehicle mounted a curb and slammed into the security barrier.
“Preliminary investigation reveals the driver may have intentionally struck the security barriers at Lafayette Square,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.
Images from the scene showed a Nazi flag and other objects strewn on the ground next to the vehicle as authorities investigated.
A Reuters witness said investigators found the flag, which apparently came from inside the truck.
Bomb technicians who searched the truck found no explosives or incendiary devices inside, a law enforcement source familiar with the probe told CNN.
Witness Benjamin Berger said he heard the initial crash, then saw the vehicle slam into a barrier again.
“I turn around and just see people running away from this U-Haul,” Berger told NBC Washington. “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. So I proceeded to run away as well.”
The nearby Hay-Adams hotel was evacuated at the request of the Secret Service, a hotel employee told the news outlet
The guests and staffers were allowed back in when authorities deemed it safe a short time later.
The FBI’s National Capital Response Squad is assisting Park Police and the Secret Service in the probe.