IIt was a balmy spring night in Washington DC when a U-haul truck suddenly crashed through the security gates near the White House.
The driver, allegedly carrying a Nazi flag, then made threatening statements about the building that President Joe Biden calls home.
Today, the male suspect – 19-year-old Sai Varshith Kandula – was arrested on charges of threatening to kill or harm the president, Vice President Kamala Harris or one of their family members.
Details have so far remained scant, with the driver’s possible motives and plans unclear. According to ABC News, Mr Kandula flew from Missouri to Dulles International Airport, rented a truck and drove to the White House with the intention of harming the president. Mr Kandula reportedly told law enforcement officials that he wanted to take over the government.
The incident will no doubt cause alarm around Capitol Hill – coming at a time when lawmakers and government officials are facing mounting threats and just two years after Donald Trump’s supporters successfully stormed the US Capitol in chaos on January 6.
Here’s what we know so far about Monday’s incident.
What happened?
The incident happened around 9:40 p.m. Monday when a white U-Haul box truck crashed into security barriers on the north side of Lafayette Square at 16th Street, US Park Police said.
The crash happened just a few hundred feet away from the White House, where Mr Biden spoke with Senate Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy a few hours earlier.
Sai Varshith Kandula is pictured in a Marquette High School yearbook image from 2022, courtesy of Rockwood School District
(Rockwood School District)
US Park Police and US Secret Service Uniform Division officers responded to the scene to search for a truck believed to have intentionally crashed into bollards outside Lafayette Park.
A video posted by eyewitness Chris Zaboji shows the truck driving through the barricades once and then driving into them a second time.
Mr Zaboji, an airline pilot who lives in Washington, said he was walking home after jogging on the National Mall when he heard a loud crash.
He took out his phone to get what was going on.
“I turned around and saw that the U-Haul van had crashed into the barricade. I backed up behind a guy on a golf cart and took the video on my phone,” he told Reuters.
A box truck was seen crashing into a security barrier near the White House
(Reuters)
“After I saw it crash again I didn’t want to be near the truck and left.”
Nazi tools and threats
A police source told NBC News that Mr Kandula made threatening statements about the White House at the scene but was quickly detained by law enforcement – after which, according to CNN, he praised Adolf Hitler. According to court documents, Kandula also praised eugenics and said the Nazis “have a lot of history.”
Police found a Nazi flag on the truck Mr Kandula was driving which can be seen in photographs taken by a Reuters photojournalist.
After searching the truck, officers determined that it contained no weapons or explosives. No one was injured in the crash and there is no ongoing danger to the public, officials said.
“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’s communications chief, said in a statement late Monday. .
The suspect
The US Park Police released the identity of the driver – Sai Varshith Kandula, 19, from Chesterfield, Missouri.
While police have not yet detailed Mr Kandula’s motive, US Park Police spokesman Thomas Twinname said in a statement that he had been arrested and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, there is no doubt that operation of a motor vehicle, threatening to kill, kidnap or harm. of a president, vice president, or family member, destruction of federal property, and trespassing.
Shortly after the truck crashed into the barriers near the grounds of the White House
Mr Twiname said preliminary investigations showed the driver had “deliberately” crashed into the security barriers.
Mr Kandula appeared in court in Washington on Tuesday, but has yet to enter a plea.
Threats against officers
It is unclear whether the president and first lady were at home at the time of the incident which comes amid an increase in potential threats against politicians.
Data from the Capitol Police revealed that the agency investigated about 7,500 cases of possible threats against members of Congress in 2022.
While less than the 9,600 threats recorded in 2021, this is double the number in 2017.
In October, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the National Counterterrorism Center and the US Capitol Police sent a joint intelligence bulletin to law enforcement partners across the country warning that the rise of domestic violent extremism ( DVE) and “perceptions” of election fraud can lead to an increase in violence.
Among the most “attractive targets” of extremists are lawmakers, government officials and personnel involved in elections including political candidates and election workers, it warned.
“Potential targets of DVE violence include candidates running for public office, elected officials, election workers, political rallies, political party representatives, racial and religious minorities , or perceived ideological opponents,” the bulletin read.
Rioters attacked the US Capitol on January 6
(Getty Images)
On the same day – 28 October 2022 – the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was the victim of a violent hammer attack at the couple’s home in California.
David DePape, a 42-year-old hemp jewelry maker, allegedly broke into the couple’s home in San Francisco in the early hours of the morning looking for Ms Pelosi.
Ms Pelosi’s husband Paul Pelosi, 82, was home alone, with his wife away in Washington DC at the time.
Mr. Pelosi was able to call 911 but the suspect allegedly hit him in the head with a hammer when officers arrived.
It comes more than a year after the riots in the Capitol on January 6 on 6 January 2021 when a mob of Mr Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol – fueled by his lies that the presidential election was “stolen”. from him – to try to reverse Joe Biden’s victory.
Chilling footage from that day revealed how some of the rioters searched for Ms Pelosi, chanting “Where’s Nancy?” while they ransacked his office.
Others were seen chanting “Hang Mike Pence” after the vice president refused to try to overturn the election in Mr Trump’s favour.
