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Sai Varshith Kandula, a 20-year-old Indian-origin man, was on Thursday sentenced to eight years in prison for an attempted attack on the White House on May 22, 2023 to overthrow the government and replace it with a Nazi dictatorship.
The Indian-origin man from Hyderabad, who was a permanent resident of the US, pled guilty to charges of wilful injury or depredation of US property on May 13, 2024, and was sentenced to eight years in prison and an additional three years of supervised release by district court judge Dabney L Friedrich.
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According to a plea agreement, Kandula carried out the attack in an attempt to replace the democratically-elected government with a Nazi dictatorship, with him in-charge.
“Kandula admitted to investigators that he would have arranged for the killing of the US President and others if necessary to achieve his objective. His actions were calculated to influence or affect the conduct of government by intimidation or coercion,” the agreement said.
Attack on White House
Kandula flew from St Louis, Missouri to Dulles International Airport after which he rented a truck and drove to Washington DC on May 22, 2023, according to court documents.
The attack was pre-planned and Kandula had made several attempts previously to access vehicles or armed security guards to get to the White House.
On April 22, 2023, Varshith Kandula requested 25 armed guards and an armoured convoy from a security company in Virginia, according to federal prosecutors.
Also Read: Man carrying torch, flare arrested at US Capitol: ‘Smelled like fuel’
On May 4, 2023, he also attempted to contact several companies to rent a large commercial tractor-trailer truck, a dump truck, or another large truck, but was unsuccessful.
On May 22, 2023, he crashed a rented truck into the barriers outside the White House and the President’s Park at 9:35 pm at the intersection of H Street, Northwest and 16th Street, Northwest.
He drove on the sidewalk, causing pedestrians to flee the scene and rammed the truck twice into the metal barriers before its engine started emitting smoke and leaking fluids.
Kandula then exited the truck and removed a red-and-white flag with a Nazi Swastika in the centre. Soon after, US Park Police and the US Secret Service officers arrested Kandula and took him into custody.
According to the US Department of Justice, Kandula’s actions caused $4,322 in damage to the National Park Service due to repairs required for the metal barriers and spillage caused by the crashed truck.
