The driver of a U-Haul box truck was arrested Monday night after crashing into security barriers near the White House, but no one was injured, according to the U.S. Secret Service.
The Secret Service believes it was a deliberate accident.
According to Reuters According to reports, investigators found a Nazi swastika flag in the truck that crashed in Lafayette Square.
Officers retrieved the flag and plastic evidence bags that had been placed on the sidewalk after the crash and placed them in the back of the U-Haul, reports said.
Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi wrote on Twitter: “Preliminary investigation indicates driver intentionally struck security barriers at Lafayette Square.”
He also said the US Park Police would file charges with investigative cooperation from the Secret Service.
WUSA The broadcaster showed a box-type video, a U-Haul truck stopped by a row of steel bollards, law enforcement officers and a dog approaching the vehicle.
When the truck was opened, there was no cargo.
A previous tweet from the Secret Service’s Guglielmi said no one from the White House or the Secret Service was injured.
It was unclear where President Joe Biden was at the time, but he met with Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy at the White House on Monday morning.
The Washington Post The nearby Hay Adams Hotel was reportedly evacuated at the request of the Secret Service, while the Secret Service said some roads and walkways around the park were closed.
A Washington Fire Department spokesman said a call came in at 9:40 p.m. about what was described as an investigation into a suspicious package.
A large law enforcement and public safety response soon followed before investigators determined that most of the empty truck’s contents were harmless.