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Indian man gets 8 years for 2023 White House attack
The Indian-origin man, Sai Varshith Kandula, acted as part of a plot to overthrow the US government and establish a dictatorship inspired by Nazi ideology.
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Pranavi Sharma - Thu, 16, Jan 2025
- 22:20 EST
- 195
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Sai Varshith Kandula crashed into the barriers protecting White House and President’s Park at 9.35 pm on May.22, 2023.. / Screengrab X/@EddieMoBlake
Sai Varshith Kandula, a 20-year-old Indian American from St. Louis, Missouri, was sentenced to eight years in federal prison on Jan.16, for attempting to attack the White House with a rented truck in May 2023. His actions were part of a plot to overthrow the US government and establish a dictatorship inspired by Nazi ideology.
The sentence was announced by US Attorney Matthew M. Graves, along with officials from the US Secret Service, FBI, U.S. Park Police, and Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). Kandula had pled guilty on May.13, 2024, to willful injury or depredation of U.S. property. U.S. District Court Judge Dabney L. Friedrich also ordered him to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.
Kandula, an Indian national from Chandanagar, India, had flown to Washington, D.C., on May.22, 2023, on a one-way ticket. After renting a truck, he drove to the White House and crashed into security barriers at the intersection of H Street and 16th Street Northwest around 9:35 p.m., causing pedestrians to flee the area. He rammed the barriers twice, disabling the vehicle, which began smoking and leaking fluids.
Kandula then exited the truck, retrieved a red-and-white Nazi flag from his backpack, and displayed it. He was arrested at the scene by US Park Police and Secret Service officers.
According to the plea agreement, Kandula intended to seize political power and replace the democratically elected government with a dictatorship under his leadership. He admitted to investigators that he was prepared to arrange for the killing of the US President and others if necessary to achieve his goal. His actions were described as a calculated attempt to influence or intimidate the government.
The incident caused $4,322 in damages to National Park Service property, including repairs to the barriers and hazardous material cleanup.
Court documents revealed that Kandula had been planning the attack for several weeks, unsuccessfully attempting to hire armed security guards and rent larger commercial vehicles, including a tractor-trailer and a dump truck, to carry out the offense.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, FBI Washington Field Office, U.S. Park Police, and MPD. It was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Schneider and Assistant U.S. Attorney Shehzad Akhtar.
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