Ethiopian immigrant yelled ‘I hate America’ in attempted Pentagon attack

WASHINGTON – An Ethiopian man admitted he was “trying to kill people” out of contempt for America during an attempted vehicle attack at the Pentagon Friday morning, according to court records obtained by The Post.

Tamirat Tilahun Yehualawork, 36, is accused of driving a large SUV through two access checkpoints and into a secure parking lot on the grounds of the Defense Department’s headquarters in Arlington, Va. before attempting to run down a Pentagon police officer, according to his arrest affidavit.

“The officer took cover, pointed his weapon at the vehicle, and began giving verbal commands that Yehualawork ignored,” a Pentagon Force Protection Agency special agent wrote in the document. “[He] then drove over a sidewalk and through grass towards the Pentagon Mall Entrance.”

Law enforcement eventually stopped Yehualawork by “pinning his Ford Expedition with their cruisers against a parked vehicle adjacent to the mall entrance,” according to the affidavit.

Yehualawork, who entered the US on a visa but whose “immigration status is unclear,” resisted arrest and was “forcibly removed” from his vehicle, the report said.

“While being advised of his Miranda Rights, Yehualawork yelled, ‘F–k America,’” the special agent wrote in the affidavit. “After acknowledging his rights, Yehualawork told officers, ‘I hate American [sic] and I was trying to kill people.’”

He now faces federal charges of “assaulting, resisting or impeding” law enforcement and criminal trespass, according to court documents.

Alexandria US District Judge William E. Fitzgerald on Tuesday denied Yehualawork bond, noting that the affidavit “indicate[s] the defendant poses an ongoing danger to the community by clear and convincing evidence.”

Per: NYP