Man Charged With Threatening President After U-Haul Rammed Into Gate Near White House | Eastern NC Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire. The author of this post is Greg Wilson.

    A man has been charged with several crimes, including threatening the president, after a U-Haul truck crashed into barriers around the White House late Monday.

    The driver of the truck, who the Daily Mail identified as Sai Varshith Kandula, 19, of Chesterfield, Missouri, smashed into a security gate at Lafayette Park, which is in front of the White House gates. He was charged with five crimes, including threatening to kill, kidnap, or harm the president, vice president, or family member, police told WUSA.

    The crash occurred on the north side of Lafayette Square at 16th Street at around 10 p.m. The Secret Service said the U-Haul's cargo hold was empty, but a Nazi flag was reportedly retrieved from the cab of the truck, according to ABC7 News.

    "There were no injuries to Secret Service or White House personnel and the cause and manner of the crash remain under investigation," said Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.

    Guglielmi later tweeted that a "preliminary investigation reveals that the driver may have intentionally struck the security barriers."

    The nearby Hay Adams Hotel was evacuated at the request of the Secret Service, according to The Washington Post. Roads and pedestrian walkways around the park were also closed temporarily.