A Missouri man who crashed a rented U-Haul into the security barriers close to the White House in 2023 was sentenced Thursday to eight years in prison, court documents show.
Sai Varshith Kandula slammed the rented truck around Lafayette Square near the White House in late May 2023. He then exited the vehicle and pulled out a red-and-white flag with a Nazi swastika on it before the officer jumped in, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said that Kandula wanted to “destroy” the U.S. government.
“The plan to execute this was to carry out an attack on the White House, acknowledging that the President would be killed in the process. He wanted to eliminate the democratic process in America and replace the government with a Nazi style dictatorship,” government officials wrote, adding that Kandula “specifically praised Adolf Hitler.”
Apart from being sentenced to eight years in prison, District Judge Dabney Friedrich sentenced Kandula to three years of supervised release and had him pay nearly $57,000 in restitution and a $100 special assessment.
Kandula’s defense lawyer, Scott Rosenblum, wrote that his client has schizophrenia and was diagnosed with suffering from it by two different medical professionals.
“Neither expert fixed a date of onset. But both suspect the first symptoms came on during Sai’s early to middle high school years,” Rosenblum wrote. “Both also believe his illness led directly to his offense.”
He planned the attack for months. He flew on a commercial flight from St. Louis, Mo., to Washington on May 22, the same day as the incident, which happened around 9:35 p.m. local time, according to prosecutors. The ramming of the truck, which was rented in Virginia, cost the National Park Service $4,322 in damages.
Authorities at the time said that no weapons or explosives were found with the suspect, along with no injuries.
