Police say a man in a U-Haul truck seen there intentionally rammed a barrier,
you see that happen, but could not get through.
He's been charged with threatening to kill, kidnap, or harm the president,
vice president or members of their family.
>> A 19 year old man from Missouri by the name of Sai Varshith Kandula has
been arrested and is facing multiple charges, including threatening
to kill the president and vice president of the United States.
Now, the Secret Service is luckily confirming that no one has been injured or
harmed.
The story is still developing, so there's a lot we don't know even at this moment,
but as it develops, we'll give you more details.
But for now, here's what we do know.
The truck, which carried a Nazi flag among other items,
crashed into security barriers on the north side of Lafayette Square at
16th street just before 10 PM ET, according to the US Secret Service.
A preliminary investigation revealed the driver may have intentionally
struck the barrier, the agency later said.
In fact, here is some more information about the incident and
what transpired on the scene.
>> Video at the scene shows investigators inspecting, once that all stopped,
a Nazi flag, a black backpack, a roll of duct tape, a notebook with writing in it,
and other items the suspects apparently had with him.
The Secret Service evacuated a nearby hotel as bomb technicians searched
the truck to make sure there weren't any explosives inside.
>> Now, luckily, there were no explosives inside.
Here's what we do know about the contents of the U-Haul truck.
Among the items that appear to be from the truck are a Nazi flag,
a black backpack, a roll of duct tape.
The cargo area of the moving truck appeared empty.
So the Nazi flag is getting a lot of attention for obvious reasons.
We're gonna get to the insane right wing reaction to the Nazi flag in just
a moment.
Now, law enforcement sources also told CNN that the suspect did, in fact,
make some violent threats against Joe Biden,
Kandula made threatening comments regarding the White House at the scene,
including that he wanted to kidnap and harm President Joe Biden.
There's been a lot of controversy and a lot of debate about the swastika flag,
and the right wing is claiming it's all a false flag, but here is what kandula,
the 19 year old, told Secret Service as he was being questioned.
When Secret Service agents asked Kandula about the flag with a swastika
he removed from a backpack, he allegedly said he'd bought it online because and
he's saying this, I want to be clear, because Nazis have a great history.
According to the court document, he allegedly said that he, quote,
admires their authoritarian nature, eugenics, and their one world order,
end quote, adding that Kandula identified Hitler as a strong leader that he admires.
So that is what he told Secret Service,
that's the new information that we just received.
>> Yeah, and I just wanna clarify two things, one is when I talked about how
it's a symbol in the Hindu religion, that was, like, hundreds, if not thousands
of years before the Germans ever used a swastika, and it's a reverse swastika,
and it has nothing to do with what happened during Germany in the 1930s.
So I just want to be absolutely clear about that.
And I just got that the Republicans think that it's
literally a false flag operation, bunch of knuckleheads.
>> FBI agents who interviewed him relayed that the individual said that he
wanted to seize power, take over the government, and kill the president.
Authorities are looking at a mental health component,
possible mental health issue that could have led to this incident.
>> Of course.
>> Yeah, so, look, that's all we know, right?
Yes, there was a Nazi flag.
I wanna show you this image that shows the flag unfurled right next to
the U-Haul truck.
Apparently, the fact that it was unfurled like that was suspicious to right wingers
like Matt Walsh, which we'll get to in just a moment, but first,
what were the charges?
Well, he has been charged on five counts, including assault with a dangerous weapon,
reckless operation of a motor vehicle, trespassing and
destruction of federal property, US, Park Police said.
He's also been charged with threatening to kill, kidnap, or
inflict harm on a president, vice president, or their families.
Cenk.
>> Okay, so I wanna cover the right wing lunatic reaction, so
let's go to Don Jr first, he had a lot of tweets about this, but it where he implied
that this was some sort of federal law enforcement false flag operation.
One of them is this, where he puts a picture of the suspect,
who appears to be South Asian and says, clearly a white supremacist, right?
Like, ha ha, this-.
>> Sarcastically, yeah.
>> This is obviously not the case, and so this is obviously a fake event,
presumably put on by the FBI or law enforcement,
which apparently now the right wing hate, they apparently despise law enforcement,
and they think all investigations are fake and phony and that they're all liars.
This is an amazing development in American politics,
where the right wing now despises cops and thinks everything they say is a lie.
That is amazing, okay?
>> Before you continue, though, what I don't understand is,
why is the right wing taking ownership of this guy?
In a way, right?
I mean, why are they getting so defensive about this?
As soon as there's a swastika tattoo involved or a Nazi flag involved,
the right gets super defensive and starts denying that the incident is real, why?
>> Ana that's such a great point, because until you said it, this thought had not
occurred to me, this whole day, this thought never crossed my mind.
Man, I better explain that Nazi flag, I better explain [INAUDIBLE].
>> What?
>> Because, why would that occur to you?
Why would you be like, I got better make sure, I defend the guy with a Nazi flag,
thought no one who isn't worried that they might be in that same category, okay?
>> Yeah.
>> Keep it real.
Speaking of that same category, let's go to Matt Walsh, he said, totally normal,
of course, for the police to neatly lay out the evidence at a crime scene so
that reporters can take pictures.
So a conspiracy theory is born, and by the way,
I did a tweet about this in the morning, and then I couldn't believe it.
Everybody looks, so
I don't know that this applies to everyone that's right wing in the country, okay?
And unfortunately,
in social media, we have the most extreme people from both sides, okay?
So, I can't speak for all right wingers, but almost every right winger in social
media thinks that this is a false flag operation.
>> But why?
>> They've all become Alex Jones.
>> But I don't get why, you get what I'm saying?
Why would this be a false flag?
>> I know their theory. >> A false flag for what?
>> No, their theory is, yeah,
of course you send in a South Asian guy to be a white supremacist.
Pause, pause, did it not occur to any of you that if the FBI had done it,
that maybe they would have sent in a white guy?
>> Is it for real?
[LAUGH].
>> Like, no, you thought the FBI is like, hey, anybody want to volunteer?
We got a South Asian guy, let's pretend that he's the white supremacist, right?
But they've lost their mind, so logic is totally irrelevant to them, okay?
But I know what their theory is, their theory is, yeah,
the FBI sends in an Indian guy to pretend to be a Nazi to try to kill Biden and
Kamala Harris so they could crack down on the right wing.
But wait a minute, the guys has Nazi paraphernalia.
Are you worried that the FBI is gonna crack down on Nazis?
Correct answer is yes, they are worried about that.
Guys, you're telling on yourself without realizing it, okay?
I'm not 1% worried that the FBI is gonna crack down too hard on Nazis in
America, okay?
If you show me the FBI abusing the law,
you see them abusing FISA warrants as actually happened the other day.
Even in the case of January 6 defendants, I'll come out and say, no,
I don't want the FBI breaking the law under any circumstances, even if it's
against crazy right wingers who are doing insurrection, etc, I don't want that.
But you give me a legitimate investigation of Nazis in the country, and
I don't catch feelings over it.
So, no, I'm sorry, Matt Walsh and Donald Trump Jr, and
apparently every single right winger online, you've lost your minds.
Check yourself into an asylum where you belong, the FBI or the local cops aren't
gonna get an Indian guy and be like, yeah, man, let's pretend he's a Nazi, and
then let's pretend he's trying to kill Biden and Kamala Harris.
So we can maybe crack down on the right wing later.
>> Yeah-. >> No, cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, lunatics.
>> I don't know, Cenk, I think you're partly being unfair to the right
wingers online, because, to be fair, the FBI does have a long history of
engaging in some special operations on behalf of the left wing in America.
>> [LAUGH].
>> That what they are known for.
>> Seriously, look at that, right?
Ana is kidding, cuz it's so obviously a joke-.
>> It's absurd, it's absurd.
>> But they really believe it.
They're like, man, the FBI is so left wing.
They've been against the right wing, have you ever guys, that's the thing, man,
they've never read a history book in their life.
The FBI is massively right wing.
They would literally murder left wing activists,
up until today they investigate Black Lives Matter,
all progressive groups, groups against oil drilling.
They're like, just in case they're terrorists.
Anybody opposing a corporation is a terrorist.
The FBI has been awfully right wing.
They do one investigation of you guys because your beloved cult leader
has broken a thousand goddamn laws, and all of a sudden,
you guys are, did you know FBI does investigations of people?
Yeah, it's called the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
Welcome to America.
Welcome to this planet.
They're, no, we're the special victims, us and these Nazis, we're the victims.
The FBI is actually going after Nazis now, what's next?
Okay, no, I'll tell you the best theory on what this guy is,
obviously mentally ill, okay?
And if you don't know, yes, some South Asians believe
that they're Aryan, and that doesn't mean Aryan is a Nazi.
It just means Aryan is an Indo European group,
and you will see in some Hindu culture and drawings, etc, art and
religious symbols, the reverse swastika, because they're also Aryan.
Not Aryan and bad, not Aryan as in Nazi, but
Aryan as in as in genetics, biology, etc.
And so it's not actually totally crazy for
a South Asian guy to go in this direction if he is mentally unwell.
Of course, no person who's mentally well, South Asian or otherwise,
is gonna go in this direction, right?
>> I mean, the guy thinks he's gonna take over the government with his truck.
He's 19, we don't know much about his motive yet,
so everybody calm the hell down.
Just coil down. >> But look, guys, but here's what we do
know, he has Nazi flag duct tape, all this stuff, and he was going to
kill the Democratic president and the Democratic vice president.
And Ana, that's why they have to come up with a false flag thing,
because who thinks a left winger is gonna go kill Biden?
Nobody thinks that, right?
So they're, but I got to protect the Nazis, so it's a false flag operation.
Yeah, they're pretending to be a right winger,
it's those dastardly cops who are always against the right wing.
You live on a different planet, go get mental health counseling.