Suspect arrested after car rams into gate at FBI building

FBI officials inspect a car that rammed into a gate (Peter Smith/AP)

A suspect has been taken into custody after a driver rammed a car into a security gate at the FBI building in Pittsburgh and then threw an American flag over the gate before leaving.

FBI spokesperson Bradford Arick said the man was taken into custody after 10am on Wednesday.

The car crashed into the gate at about 2.40am on Wednesday, the FBI said. Investigators, including a bomb squad, attended the scene but no explosives were found.

“We look at this as an act of terror against the FBI,” Christopher Giordano, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI in Pittsburgh, told reporters.

A car rammed into a gate at the FBI building in Pittsburgh (Peter Smith/AP)

Mr Giordano said he had no information on a motive. He said the FBI was familiar with the man, a former member of the military.

“He did come here to the FBI field office a few weeks ago to make a complaint that didn’t make a whole lot of sense,” Mr Giordano said.

He said the car appeared to have some sort of message on one of the side windows, but did not elaborate.