Suspect Arrested after Car Crashes into Gate of FBI's Pittsburgh Office

The man accused of ramming an entrance outside the FBI's Pittsburgh field office before throwing an American flag on the damaged gate might have been experiencing a mental health issue, according to officials.

By Kellen Stepler

Source The Tribune-Review, Greensburg

Sept. 18, 2025

2 min read

What to know

Donald Henson of Penn Hills is accused of crashing into the gate of the FBI's Pittsburgh field office early Wednesday before placing an American flag on the damaged fence and leaving the scene.
Henson, known to the FBI and believed to be a former service member, was arrested later in the morning and might have been experiencing a mental health issue.
No injuries were reported, and the FBI continues to investigate the targeted incident.

A man is accused of ramming the entrance outside the FBI's Pittsburgh field office early Wednesday before throwing an American flag on the damaged gate and fleeing.

FBI officials in Pittsburgh Wednesday morning have arrested a man they say crashed a white sedan into the gate outside their field office in the city's South Side Flats at around 2:40 a.m.

Bradford Arick, spokesman for the office, confirmed that Donald Henson of Penn Hills was taken into custody just before 10:30 a.m.

Arick declined to comment further.

FBI officials said Henson is known to the FBI and that the crash was targeted.

No injuries were reported.

Following the crash, the FBI said Henson exited the car, removed an American flag from the back seat and threw it onto the damaged gate. He then walked away from the scene.

"He got out and went around the passenger side and pulled something out of the passenger side," Nakeisha Brown, who works nearby, told TribLive news partner WTAE. "I thought it was a gun, but it happened to be a flag, and he just set it on that fence and started yelling out some words and just took off."

Henson appeared to be incoherent when he left the scene, witnesses said.

Arick said the car had some sort of message on a side window, but that didn't appear relevant to the incident.

Arick also said Henson had attempted to report an incident at the field office weeks ago, but that it did not amount to anything.

FBI officials said Henson, who they believe is a former member of the military, may have been experiencing a mental health issue.

The FBI is investigating the incident.

This is not the first time the FBI's Pittsburgh gate has been struck.

In July 2016, Thomas Ross of New Waterford, Ohio, drove a dump truck through the FBI Pittsburgh gate, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages. He was sentenced to time served, ordered to take a residential drug treatment program and pay $45,000 in restitution. He was convicted on federal charges of willfully injuring or committing depredation against U.S. government property.

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