Missouri man accused of deliberately crashing U-Haul truck into security barrier near White House
CTV
A Missouri man flew to Washington, rented a U-Haul truck and drove straight to the White House, where he crashed the truck into a security barrier and began waving around a Nazi flag in the culmination of a six-month plan to “seize power” from the government, authorities said Tuesday.
A Missouri man flew to Washington, rented a U-Haul truck and drove straight to the White House, where he crashed the truck into a security barrier and began waving around a Nazi flag in the culmination of a six-month plan to “seize power” from the government, authorities said Tuesday.
Sai Varshith Kandula, 19, removed the flag from a backpack shortly after smashing the box truck into the barrier near the north side of Lafayette Square on Monday around 10 p.m., according to charging documents. He was quickly arrested by a U.S. Park Police officer who rushed to the scene of the crash and saw him take out the flag.
Kandula later told Secret Service agents that he'd flown from St. Louis on a one-way ticket that night after months of planning. He wanted to “get to the White House, seize power, and be put in charge of the nation,” and he said he would “kill the president, if that's what I have to do,” charges state.
Kandula, who is from the St. Louis suburb of Chesterfield, Missouri, said he bought the flag online because he admires the Nazis' “great history” as well as their “authoritarian nature, eugenics, and their one world order.”
No one was injured in the crash. No explosives or weapons were found in the truck or on Kandula.
Kandula rented the U-Haul in Herndon, Virginia, and had a valid contract in his own name, the company said. People can rent a truck from U-Haul at age 18, and there were no red flags on his rental record that would have prevented the contract, according to U-Haul.
A witness, Chris Zaboji, said the driver smashed into the barrier at least twice. Zaboji, a 25-year-old pilot who lives in Washington, was finishing a run close by Lafayette Square when he heard the loud crash of the U-Haul truck hitting the barrier. He said he took out his phone and captured the moment the truck struck the barrier again before he heard sirens approaching.
