A driver crashed into the White House gates and died late Saturday night, authorities said.
Police did not release any information about the man behind the wheel, but the Secret Service said there was “no threat to the White House.”
President Biden was not home at the time, according to the Secret Service. He was spending the weekend in Delaware.
Officers responded to 15th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. NW around 10:30 p.m. after a vehicle struck the White House security perimeter gates at a high rate of speed, the Metropolitan Police Department said in a tweet.
“At this time, the incident is being investigated only as a traffic crash by MPD’s Major Crash Investigations Unit,” the department wrote.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said security personnel attempted to save the man’s life while implementing standard protocols.
It was the second time in five months that someone drove into the White House gates. In January, a man struck an exterior gate and was arrested by Secret Service agents. Authorities said they were unsure at the time if the man was trying to intentionally attack the building or if the crash was an accident.
About a month before that, a Delaware man crashed into Biden’s motorcade in Wilmington, Del. The driver, identified as 46-year-old James Cooper, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence. Authorities said there was no threat to the president in either incident.
And in May 2023, a man driving a U-Haul slammed into the barriers around Lafayette Square, across the street from the White House. The man, 19-year-old Sai Varshith Kandula, had a Nazi flag in his vehicle and was arrested.
