He met the speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, at the White House earlier on Monday evening. The exact location of Joe Biden at the time of the crash was unclear. I didn’t want to be anywhere near the truck and left,” Zaboji said.Ī previous tweet from Guglielmi said nobody from the White House or Secret Service was injured as a result of the crash. I backed away behind a guy on a golf cart and took the video on my phone. ![]() “I looked back and saw that the U-Haul van had rammed into the barricade. Zaboji, 25, an airline pilot who lives in Washington, said he had just finished jogging on the National Mall and was walking home when he heard a loud crash. After crashing once, Zaboji said the driver hit the barricades a second time. A remote-controlled robot then pried open the truck’s rear door, revealing a trolley but no other obvious cargo.Ĭhris Zaboji, a witness to the crash, posted a brief video to social media showing the truck driving into the barriers. WUSA television showed video of a U-Haul truck stopped alongside a row of steel bollards as police officers and a dog approached the vehicle. “Preliminary investigation reveals the driver may have intentionally struck the security barriers at Lafayette Square,” Anthony Guglielmi, the chief of communications for the Secret Service, said on Twitter. A Reuters witness said investigators found the flag, which apparently came from inside the truck. ![]() The flag and plastic evidence bags were photographed laid out on the road after the crash. A swastika flag, used by the Nazi regime as it systematically murdered 6 million Jews during the Holocaust, was found in the rented truck that crashed. According to witnesses, the driver crashed repeatedly into the security barriers in Lafayette Square, near the grounds of the White House.Īuthorities in Washington DC detained the driver of the truck, which was deemed safe by District of Columbia police. The crash happened at about 10pm Eastern Time on Monday. The news of the accusation about the Nazi flag and Kandula’s identity was met with skepticism among some quarters on social media.īut experts say people of color in the United States are being increasingly drawn to the political far right as well as groups which are sympathetic to Nazi beliefs of white supremacy because of misinformation, particularly online the presence of authoritarian influences from their families’ country of origin and a proximity to whiteness in the US which relies more on dominance over people rather than one’s skin color.Ī LinkedIn profile matching Kandula’s name while listing a home town of Chesterfield as well as a 2022 high school graduation date described experience in computer coding as well as a background in data analytics. He had been accused of having a Nazi flag on him. The Obama family was away at the time.ĭuring Friday's incident, the Secret Service said law enforcement personnel suffered no injuries and no shots were fired.įox 5 DC tweeted a video of a white van in front of a barrier with a broken rear window.The driver was also charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, reckless operation of a vehicle, and other criminal charges. But in 2014 an intruder armed with a small knife was able to make it inside the White House through an unlocked door before being apprehended. Often Secret Security tackles fence jumpers before they can gain much ground. Located in the middle of the bustling metropolis, the White House grounds have been a target for intruders several times over the years.Ī Congressional report compiled in 2015 found, "security incidents occur frequently enough that the agency must be prepared to deter and respond to breaches at all times."Ī 2014 Washington Post report chronicled more than 30 breaches that have been reported since the mid-1970s. ![]() Nobody else was injured and the White House was placed under an hour-long lockdown at the time. The checkpoint is the same site of a 2016 episode when agents shot a man brandishing a gun, reports CNN.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |