The Missouri teen who slammed into the security barriers around the White House on Monday night has been charged with attempting to kill, kidnap, or damage the president, vice president, or a member of their family. Sai Varshith Kandula, 19, of Chesterfield, Missouri, crashed the car into security barricades around 10 o'clock on Monday.
Kandula was arrested at the scene after he lost control of the van, crashed it, then leaped out and began to wave a Nazi flag. After his arrest, Kandula confessed to the FBI his plans to overthrow the government, kill President Joe Biden, and seize power.
War Against the Government
According to a statement of facts filed by a Secret Service agent in federal district court in Washington, D.C., Kandula, of Chesterfield, Missouri, rented a U-Haul truck on Monday night immediately after flying from St. Louis to Dulles International Airport on a one-way ticket.
The statement was included with a criminal complaint charging Kandula with depredation of United States property in excess of $1,000.
The document claims that around 9:35 pm, Kandula drove the vehicle onto a pavement outside the White House and through a metal fence to the north.
The documents claim that Kandula put the truck into reverse and struck the barrier once more before being arrested by US Park Police.
Kandula has been charged with making threats against former presidents and certain other people who are covered by the Secret Service under 18 U.S. Code 879. It carries a maximum five-year jail sentence.
According to the court filing, when Secret Service officials questioned Kandula about a flag with a swastika he took out of a rucksack, he allegedly claimed he had purchased it online because Nazis "have a great history."
The document states that Kandula allegedly told that he "admires their 'authoritarian nature, Eugenics, and their one world order,'" and that he named Hitler as a "strong leader" he admires.
Kandula allegedly admitted to planning the attack for six months and had a "green book" with the specifics, the document states.
He "stated his goal was to 'get into the White House, seize power, and be put in charge of the nation,'" the document states. "When agents asked how KANDULA would seize power, he stated he would 'Kill the President if that's what I have to do and would hurt anyone that would stand in my way.'"
Clear Motive, Planned Attack
Kandula flew from St. Louis, Missouri, to Dulles, according to law enforcement sources who spoke to ABC, and then leased a U-Haul vehicle.
At the time of the incident, President Biden was inside the White House. It is unclear if he knows about the incident now. A few of the streets and walkways around Lafayette Square were briefly closed and The Hay Adams Hotel was evacuated while the area was inspected.
FBI agents were seen entering and leaving Kandula's home in the St. Louis suburb of Chesterfield on Tuesday, and friends found it difficult to connect the alleged attack with the "chill" adolescent they know.
According to Capt. Daniel Dunn, Chesterfield police have no records of ever speaking to Kandula or receiving calls about the family's residence.
Federal authorities are in charge of the probe, according to Dunn.
A friend of Kandula told the New York Post that he's worried about his state of mind.
The former classmate, who attended school with Kandula, said: "I feel like something ... either has gone badly internally inside him or maybe between the family."
"He was never open to talking. And anytime I tried, he, it was just only small talk – never really anything deep. I always thought he was like a quiet, shy kid," Sharma said when reached by phone Tuesday.
Sharma rejected the notion that Kandula was a white supremacist or neo-Nazi. Kandula and his family shared a Chesterfield apartment complex with Sharma, who is now 18 and a student at the University of Central Missouri.
Sharma claimed that people discussing his former friend on Twitter had "never even met him."
"They're allowed to say whatever they want to say, but I just, for me it's crazy that he's done something.
"I couldn't believe it for the first ten – five, 10 minutes ... [I] never expected him to be doing something like this. I never thought a day like this would come."
Asked if he knew if Kandula had a history of similar behavior, he responded: "Nothing. Nothing."
"This is very unlike his normal behavior."
Errion Barfield, who was a member of the Marquette High School track team with Kandula, recalled him as quiet and unassuming.
"He was nice and chill," Barfield said in a Facebook message to NBC News. "Ain't ever expected him to do something like that."
Kandula was a resident of Chesterfield, a middle-class neighborhood about 20 miles west of St. Louis, which has a substantial South Asian community.
Kandula's year-old classmate Pranav Nagila said he couldn't understand how Kandula could possibly have a Nazi flag in his possession.
"I didn't see him as off-putting or anything like that," said Nagila, who just finished his sophomore year at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. "He just seemed like a chill person."
Kandula made a Tuesday appearance in Washington, D.C. Superior Court, and he is scheduled to appear in federal court for the first time on Wednesday afternoon.
