Vehicle crashes into security gate outside the White House
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The White House was not placed on lockdown, but the road leading to the gate will remain closed until the police tow the vehicle away.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Francesca Regalado
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WASHINGTON - A person drove a vehicle into a security gate outside the White House on the night of Oct 20, the Secret Service said in a statement.
The service said the person was immediately arrested after the crash, which happened just after 10.30pm Eastern time at the gate near the corner of 17th and E Streets. The Secret Service said in its statement that the vehicle was deemed safe after checks by its officers and officials from Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department.
The Secret Service did not release any details about the driver. It was not immediately known whether the crash was intentional, or why the driver approached the White House.
US President Donald Trump was in the White House at the time of the incident, the Secret Service said. The White House was not placed on lockdown, but the road leading to the gate will remain closed until the police tow the vehicle away, the Secret Service added.
Much attention has focused on the White House this week because of the ongoing demolition of the East Wing to build a new ballroom.
There have been other vehicle crashes at the White House gates in recent years, including one in May 2024 and another in January 2024. In May 2023, a driver crashed a rented U-Haul truck into a gate and later told the authorities that he had been planning to kill former president Joe Biden.
And the security of politicians has been in the spotlight after two assassination attempts
In 2025, Ms Melissa Hortman, a Democratic state lawmaker in Minnesota, was killed in what officials described as a political assassination. And in September, Mr Trump’s ally Charlie Kirk was fatally shot at a university campus
