P.A.
—
A man from Missouri who crashed a rental truck into the barriers protecting the White House was sentenced Thursday to eight years in prison for an attack that prosecutors said was inspired by his fascination with Nazi ideology, according to court records.
Sai Varshith Kandula, then 19, nearly hit two people standing next to a park bench when he steered a U-Haul box truck off a sidewalk and into metal bollards that prevent vehicles from entering in Lafayette Square, located north of the White House. He I got a Nazi flag of a backpack after the accident of May 22, 2023, which caused no injuries.
Kandula wanted to “attack and destroy” the U.S. government, prosecutors said.
“He wanted to eliminate the democratic process in America and replace the government with a Nazi-style dictatorship,” they write.
U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich also sentenced Kandula to three years of supervised release following his prison term and ordered him to pay nearly $57,000 in restitution, according to court records.
Defense attorney Scott Rosenblum said Kandula suffered from schizophrenia and was overcome by delusional thoughts, including his belief that “a reptilian race had installed a puppet regime to rule the United States.”
“He is open to treatment, understands its necessity, and recognizes that an illness caused the actions that led to his current situation,” Rosenblum wrote.
Prosecutors recommended an eight-year prison sentence for Kandula, who pleaded guilty in May to a property damage charge. He remains in detention since his arrest.
Kandula planned the attack for weeks before taking a flight from St. Louis to Washington, D.C., just hours before the crash, prosecutors said. He rented the truck in Herndon, Virginia, about three hours before crashing it into the barriers.
After Kandula backed up and hit the bollards a second time, the truck began smoking from its engine compartment and leaking fluids.
Authorities found no weapons, ammunition or explosives in his possession. But prosecutors said the attempted assassination of President-elect Donald Trump at a July 13 rally in Pennsylvania shows that “individuals who harbor such destructive intentions are capable of inflicting serious damage on the American political system.”
Police body camera video captured the aftermath of the crash. After his arrest, Kandula told investigators that he bought the swastika flag because “the Nazis have a great history.”
“He specifically praised Adolf Hitler. And it’s not just words: When his truck was disabled in the attack, the first thing he did was unfurl the flag of Nazi Germany,” prosecutors wrote.
After Kandula’s arrest, two psychologists diagnosed him with schizophrenia, according to Rosenblum.
“Both also believe that his illness led directly to his crime,” the lawyer wrote.
Rosenblum said Kandula’s conviction would likely result in his deportation to India.