A Missouri man faces nearly 10 years in prison time after attempting a 2023 attack on the White House in a rented box truck.
Sai Varshith Kandula, 20, of St. Louis, was sentenced in U.S. District Court on January 16 to eight years in federal prison for the attempted attack at the White House in a rented U-Haul truck on May 22, 2023. It has been declared.
A statement from the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C., said the attack was aimed at “overthrowing the democratically elected government of the United States in order to replace it with a dictatorship fueled by Nazi ideology.” I aimed for it.”
Sai Varshith Kandula was arrested and charged after hitting a barrier in Lafayette Square in May 2023. (Chris Zaboji/Locla News X/TMX)
Charges filed against driver of U-Haul truck that crashed near the White House
Kandula pled guilty on May 13, 2024, before U.S. District Court Judge Dabney L. Friedrich, to charges of willful wounding or taking property of the United States. In addition to the prison term, Friedrich ordered Kandula to serve three years of supervised release.
According to authorities, Kandula is an Indian citizen. At the time of the incident, he was a legal permanent resident of the United States with a green card.
According to court documents, Kandula flew on a commercial flight from St. Louis to Washington, D.C., on May 22, 2023, connecting to another airport on a one-way airline ticket.
white house in washington dc (Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency by Otty Images)
Kandola arrived at Dulles International Airport just before 5:30 p.m., and at 6:30 p.m. he rented a truck and drove to Washington, D.C., where he crashed into the barrier protecting the White House and Presidential Park.
The crash happened at the intersection of H Street NW and 16th Ave NW just after 9:30 p.m.
He drove his car onto the sidewalk and ran over pedestrians, authorities said. After hitting the barrier, the truck backed up, then rushed forward and hit the metal barrier again.
The second impact disabled the truck, which began smoking and leaking fluids from the engine compartment, officials said. He went outside, went to the back of the truck, pulled out a big red and white flag with an ast in the middle, and started getting it.
U-Haul truck crashes into barrier near White House, suspect in custody, officials say
U.S. Park Police and Secret Service officers arrested Kandra, according to the attorney's office.
At the time of the collision, he was attempting to gain access to the White House in order to seize political power, according to the judicial agreement.
“Kandura's intention was to [the] Nazi Germany's ideology and himself to put the United States in charge,'' according to the statement.
U.S. Park Police and Secret Service officers arrested Kandra. (istock)
According to authorities, Kandra planned the attack for several weeks. He made several attempts to gain access to the vehicle and armed guards before renting a truck and crashing it on the White House grounds.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, on April 22, 2023, Kandra requested an armored convoy of 25 armed guards and the Virginia State Guard. A few weeks later, on May 4, 2023, he attempted to contact several other companies looking to rent a large commercial tractor-trailer truck, dump truck, or another large truck.
“Kandra attempted to arrange the services of these security guards and the use of heavy vehicles to carry out his crimes against the U.S. government,” the official said. “His actions were calculated to influence or influence the actions of the government by intimidation or coercion.”
Kandura told investigators that he arranged the murder of former President Joe Biden. (Associated Press, File)
He admitted to investigators that he arranged the killings of former President Joe Biden and others if necessary to achieve his goals, authorities noted.
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The crash resulted in $4,322 in damages, according to prosecutors. The total cost includes restoring the metal bollard barrier to its original condition and ensuring the structural integrity, oil and chemical removal, spill cleanup, and disposal of liquids from the crashed U-Haul. I did.
This case was investigated by the Secret Service, the FBI's Washington Field Office, the U.S. Park Police, and the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department.
