Man driving pickup truck causes anthrax scare on National Mall

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By BNO NEWS

A man briefly caused a scare on Tuesday when he drove his pickup truck onto the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and told police that he had anthrax on him and inside his vehicle, officials say. Nothing was found.

The incident began at around 3 p.m. ET on Tuesday when the man, whose name has not been released, drove his white pickup truck onto the National Mall between 3rd and 4th Streets Northwest and called U.S. Capitol Police.

“The man allegedly saw the substance being spread on a field in Virginia, thought it was a threat to people, and collected the substance in order to warn others of the danger,” U.S. Park Police said. “He never threatened anyone and has been compliant throughout the incident.”

After the man exited the vehicle he was checked for exposure to anthrax but the results came back as negative. “As a safety precaution he and the officers who made contact with him went through a decontamination procedure,” police said.

The truck remained on the field for hours but was eventually declared safe after being inspected by a robot.

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