Here we go again. Last night a 19-year-old rammed a U-haul truck into the barriers near the White House. The driver was quickly arrested and allegedly made comments about wanting to harm the president. This morning he was identified and is now facing a litany of charges.

Authorities have arrested a 19-year-old Missouri man they say intentionally rammed a U-Haul truck into security barriers on the north side of Lafayette Square near the White House Monday.

U.S. Park Police say Sai Varshith Kandula of Chesterfield, Missouri, was taken into custody at the scene. Kandula faces multiple charges including assault with a dangerous weapon, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, the threat to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm on a President, Vice President, or family, destruction of federal property, and trespassing…

Here’s video of the attempt to ram the barrier.

🚨#BREAKING: A U-Haul truck rams into security barriers outside the White House

📌#Washington l #DC

Currently multiple law enforcements and the secret service along with bomb squad are on the scene after a U-Haul truck crashes and rams into security barriers outside near the… pic.twitter.com/QNO28VJMEx

— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) May 23, 2023

Someone who happened to be taking a picture of the White House last night filmed this video of the truck moments later as well as photos of Kandula being arrested.

A few other photos from the incident, one being the individual being arrested. pic.twitter.com/NdBoL9Bu8M

— Benjamin Berger (@BenB005) May 23, 2023

A driver’s license photo of Kandula:

Breaking News: I have a very reliable tip that the driver of the U-haul that crashed into Lafayette Square near the White House gate is Sai Varshith Kandula. This pic is from his Missouri Driver's License. pic.twitter.com/XNLmN9l39J

— Karol Markowicz (@karol) May 23, 2023

But here’s the part that has everyone talking today. Authorities found a Nazi flag.

Authorities said the preliminary investigation indicates Kandula “intentionally crashed” into the bollards outside Lafayette Park. A Nazi flag was seized by authorities at the scene of the incident…

Asked for their reaction, the official said: “I don’t think there’s any place for a Nazi flag or the statements that he made.”

There are pictures circulating of the flag on the street near the truck.

BREAKING: Apparently a Nazi flag has been pulled from the cab of a U Haul truck that rammed the security barrier at Lafayette Square near White House pic.twitter.com/IMxBdloRVf

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) May 23, 2023

There’s video of the police rolling up the flag and putting it in an evidence bag. Anyway, there are already lots of people calling this, literally, a false flag operation because why would a guy named Sai Varshith Kandula be a white supremacist? Twitchy has already collected a bunch of tweets like this.

Here's a quick analysis: WHY?

Why crash a U-Haul truck with a "Nazi flag" into White House barriers?

What's the motive? Get arrested? For what?

Or maybe, hear me out, maybe this was staged by people who need "Nazi" bogeymen to distract us from failed policies. Just a thought. https://t.co/Pp2TeFTBFP

— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) May 23, 2023

There are lots more like this along with people calling this a “deep state psyop.”

We just went through this same cycle with the Texas mall shooter. He was identified as Mauricio Garcia and he had a “RWDS” patch on his tactical vest. He also had an account on a Russian social media page where he seemed to idolize Nazis. There were photos of his big Nazi tattoos (a swastika on his chest and the letters SS on his arm). All sorts of people on the right, including some big accounts like Catturd (1.7 million followers), were proclaiming the mall shooter’s connection to neo-Nazism a psyop. On what basis? None at all besides the fact that it felt odd that a person who was obviously Hispanic could be a neo-Nazi. So today we’re right back to the same thing again.

Good morning to everyone except lame FBI psyops.

— Catturd ™ (@catturd2) May 23, 2023

There are lots of people arguing about why the flag was placed on the ground by the police (more on that below) and why the truck lacked any explosives or other weapons. What exactly was the driver’s plan here?

I have no idea. It seems to me that anyone who would try something like this probably has a few screws loose. Maybe such a person didn’t really think through their plan very carefully?

Anyway, the same logic applies to the lame FBI psyop claim. Why exactly would a real person named Sai Varshith Kandula of Chesterfield, Missouri agree to drive a truck into the White House barrier? Presumably he was tricked into it by some undercover FBI agent but what exactly did they say to him? Why would he agree to do something that could land him a very long stretch in prison or a bullet to the head if he’d made it much closer to the White House? Is he just crazy? If so, why would he need the FBI to talk him into it? Crazy people do crazy things all on their own.

Anyway, I’ve already spelled out my reasons why this “psyop” thing doesn’t seem like a healthy approach to the news. I don’t blame anyone for being suspicious when a news story seems too good (or bad) to be true. Skepticism is normal and indeed necessary. But at some point, you have to have actual reasons to back up your doubts. Calling everything you want to discount a lame FBI psyop doesn’t cut it. There are in fact some crazy people out there who do crazy things. Absent some additional evidence, that’s what we’ve got here.

Of course we could learn tomorrow that this guy was talking to someone before this dumb stunt. If so we’ll have to factor that in but right now there’s no evidence of anything besides a 19-year-old in a rented truck with a Nazi flag rambling about harming the president and/or the vice president. Let’s wait and see what the evidence shows. Maybe he’s another Mauricio Garcia, i.e. a deranged true believer of some kind, or maybe he’s just an undiagnosed schizophrenic.

Update: It’s still early but he sounds like a nut to me and not someone without a clearly thought-out plan.

The FBI interviewed suspect Sai Varshith Kandula, 19, of Chesterfield, Missouri, and told law enforcement that he wanted to seize power, take over the government and kill the president, according to three law enforcement sources. Sources tell ABC News that authorities are looking at a mental health component to the investigation.

Also some additional info on how the Nazi flag wound up in the street (which as noted above was a focus of many comments on Twitter).

Kandula allegedly traveled from St. Louis to Dulles International Airport where he rented a U-Haul truck and drove to the White House, law enforcement sources told ABC News. After ramming the bollard, Kandula exited the vehicle and began waving a flag with what authorities say appeared to be a swastika on it, and that is when officers from the U.S. Park Police detained him.

Still waiting for someone to find his social media.

Update: Someone sent me a note wondering if you can even rent a U-Haul at 19. The answer is that you can.

You have to be 21 to rent a car in most places but only 18 to rent a truck.