Officials confirmed to Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 that the man who crashed into a gate at the FBI office in Pittsburgh’s South Side is now in custody.
The suspect, Donald Henson, confessed that he purposefully crashed his vehicle into the gate “to make a statement.” Henson then shouted “sic semper tyrannis,” which is a Latin phrase for “thus always to tyrants.”
Documents stated the phrase is “famously associated with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, by John Wilkes Booth, who is said to have shouted the phrase after shooting the president.”
The crash happened on Wednesday morning, September 17, at about 2:40 a.m.
Assistant Special Agent in Charge Christopher Giordano stated, “We look at this as an act of terror against the FBI. This was a targeted attack on this building.” He then continued, “Thankfully, no one was hurt.”
The scary moments were described by witnesses.
Nakeisha Brown who works nearby said, “I’m blown away right now.”
Brown mentioned she heard the screeching of the tires, then she saw the aftermath of the crash, as well as a man who got out of the vehicle.
Brown stated, “He got out and went around the passenger side, and pulled something out of the passenger side. I thought it was a gun, but it happened to be a flag, and he just set it on the fence and started yelling out some words and just took off.”
Another nearby worker, Idez Columbie, stated “He just walked away like nothing happened.”
Henson is a former military member, and he is also known to have some mental health issues.
Henson previously made an appearance at the building about two weeks ago to file a complaint. Officials said it was unfounded and did not make much sense.
Giordano said, “Like I said, we consider this an act of terror because it was directly against the FBI. He has come here in the past. He specifically targeted this building because it’s the FBI building.”
There is some sort of writing on the side of the vehicle, and the FBI is trying to decide the meaning of that message. A special motive has not been established.
Henson is scheduled for an appearance in Pittsburgh at the federal courthouse on Wednesday afternoon.
Henson will face federal charges of damaging government property and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees.
