WASHINGTON — A man allegedly inspired by the Islamic State stole a U-Haul truck and drove around the Washington D.C. area looking for crowds to run into, before being caught by police at National Harbor.
Rondell Henry, 28, currently faces charges for driving a stolen vehicle across state lines. However, he told investigators he had been planning a terrorist attack with a stolen U-Haul.
Below is a timeline of the events prosecutors say transpired after Henry walked off the job on March 26, 2019.
TIMELINE
March 26, mid-day: Henry walks out of his job in Germantown, Maryland. A computer engineer by trade, he did not have the skills for explosives or firearms.
"He knew how to drive, and he also knew of the terrorist truck attack in Nice, France," prosecutors wrote in documents filed Monday. "So the defendant decided to use what was readily at his disposal and conduct a vehicular attack on a crowd of innocents."
March 26, afternoon: Henry drives around Washington, D.C. looking for a larger vehicle to steal to use for his attack. Prosecutors said he knew his four-door sedan would not "cause the catastrophic damage he desired."
Henry allegedly spotted a U-Haul while in Virginia, and stole it.
"The defendant would have preferred a larger vehicle, but his impatience to act spurred him to opt for the good rather than wait for the perfect," prosecutors wrote in court filings Monday.
March 26, evening and overnight: Henry continued to drive around the metro area, "assessing target locations he already decided would attract substantial media coverage."
March 27, 5:00 a.m.: Henry arrived at the Dulles International Airport in Virginia with the intent to run into a crowd of unloading pedestrians, prosecutors said.
"At that early hour, the airport lacked the large number of unloading pedestrians the defendant hoped to find," prosecutors said in court documents. "So, reconsidering his options, the defendant exited his U-Haul and entered the terminal, trying to find a way through security to harm 'disbelievers' in a way designed for maximum publicity."
Henry tried to get into the airport by piggy-backing on a cleared person, but failed. He also looked for weak spots to slip in and tried to get paperwork from a check-in kiosk.
After more than two hours of trying to get into the airport, he went back to the U-Haul and his original plan, prosecutors said.
March 27, 10 a.m.: Henry arrives at National Harbor in Maryland.
"He wanted to create 'panic and chaos,'" prosecutors wrote, "'The same as what happened in France.'"
The court filing says Henry had no escape plan and instead intended to die while driving into pedestrians at National Harbor.
Similar to what happened at the airport, there was not a sizable crowd at his chosen destination, so he planned his "ideal spot to attack," according to prosecutors, then broke into a boat and hid "until the time was right."
March 28, morning: Police track down the stolen U-Haul and wait for whoever stole it to return to it's parked location.
When Henry jumped over the security fence from the boat dock, police arrested him.
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Henry is scheduled a detention hearing for 12:45 p.m. on April 9, 2019. It is unclear if or when more charges will be added based on his statements to police.