(RightWing.org) – Reports of attacks on lawmakers and their family members have dominated news headlines over the last several months. For instance, an intruder attacked Paul Pelosi, the 82-year-old husband of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in late 2022. More recently, a man attacked two of Rep. Gerald Connolly’s (D-VA) staff members with a baseball bat on March 15, sending them to the hospital. Now, a man has crashed into a barrier near the White House in a possible assassination attempt.
On May 22, a man crashed his rented U-Haul truck into security barriers located a block north of the White House close to 16th Street. The security structures are in place to prevent vehicles from entering Lafayette Park, which is sandwiched between Pennsylvania Avenue and H Street NW.
Video footage of the incident showed the man trying to force his way past the barriers. Another video showed a Secret Service robot searching the truck for an explosive device and other dangerous objects.
The following day, the National Park Service issued a news release discussing the incident. The statement confirmed that its officers and uniformed Secret Service agents responded to the crash scene at approximately 9:40 p.m. They conducted a preliminary investigation and arrested the vehicle’s 19-year-old driver, Sai Varshith.
Officials charged Varshith with threatening to “kill/kidnap/[or] inflict harm on the president, vice president, [or] family members.” They also charged the suspect with trespassing, assault with a deadly weapon, destruction of federal property, and recklessly operating a motor vehicle.
Anthony Guglielmi, the Secret Service’s Chief of Communications, posted a tweet thanking members of the agency’s Uniformed Division, the US Park Police, the FBI, and the Metro DC Police Department for their vigilance in a situation where failure isn’t an option.
A few hours later, Guglielmi issued a statement confirming that the agency was working with its partners at the FBI to “closely examine all aspects” of the incident. He also noted that the Secret Service was not in a position to offer additional information due to the active nature of the investigation.
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