Washington, April 26 (IANS) Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Sunday that investigators believe the suspect in the attempted attack near the White House was targeting members of the administration, as federal authorities continued to sift through evidence gathered overnight.

“This investigation is just over 12 hours old, so we are still actively examining everything that happened. As of now, we have collected a fair amount of evidence, which we are going through,” Blanche said in an interview with Margaret Brennan on CBS’s ‘Face the Nation’.

Blanche said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), working alongside local police and the United States Secret Service, executed multiple search warrants, including at a residence in California and a hotel room in Washington where the suspect had been staying.

“We do believe, based on a very preliminary understanding of what happened, that he was targeting members of the administration,” Blanche said, adding that investigators were still working to determine the motive and whether the suspect acted alone.

Authorities said the suspect is not cooperating and is expected to be formally charged in federal court in Washington as early as Monday morning. Blanche noted that additional charges could follow as investigators assess “his motive, his intent, his premeditation”.

The suspect allegedly approached a security checkpoint with “a shotgun, handgun and multiple knives”, according to Blanche, and was “apprehended and subdued feet away from breaching the perimeter”.

“That’s a testament to the Secret Service doing their job,” he said. “He was stopped before he got anywhere near the President… and that’s the great work of the Secret Service last night.”

Officials believe the suspect travelled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago and then to Washington. Blanche said authorities were still trying to determine how the firearms were transported across state lines and into the capital.

“We don’t have all the answers this morning,” he said. “We’re still looking into how he got the guns, and whether they were obtained legally.”

Blanche pushed back on suggestions that the incident should immediately trigger changes to firearms or transport regulations.

“This isn’t about changing the law or making the laws more restrictive,” he said. “This is about law enforcement doing their jobs and a suspect who tried to carry out an attack and failed.”

The attempted attack unfolded during a high-profile gathering attended by top US leaders, including President Donald Trump, the Vice President, and senior Cabinet officials. Blanche said the administration would not scale back public engagements in response.

“We will not stop doing things like we did last night. If one of his goals was to make us afraid, he failed,” he said.

One Secret Service agent was injured during the incident but was in “very good spirits”, Blanche said, crediting protective gear for preventing a more serious outcome.

The US Secret Service is tasked with protecting the President and other senior officials, often coordinating closely with federal and local agencies to secure major events in Washington.

–IANS

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