Man who crashed U-Haul near White House barriers pleads guilty

A Missouri man who crashed a rented U-Haul truck into security barriers near the White House last year has pleaded guilty to damaging government property, federal prosecutors announced Monday.

Sai Varshith Kandula, 20, was driving the truck on May 22 last year when it swerved onto the sidewalk before crashing into security barriers around Lafayette Square in front of the White House, authorities said. After reversing and hitting the barriers for the second time, Kandula got out of the then disabled truck and showed a flag with a Nazi swastika before authorities intervened.

No injuries were reported in the incident, although he nearly struck two people who were in the area.

He pleaded guilty Monday to one count of willful injury to or depredation of United States property and will be sentenced in August by U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, the Justice Department said.

After his arrest, he was taken into custody and told authorities he was trying to “get to the White House, seize power and be put in charge of the nation,” according to court documents.

“Kandula’s intention was to replace the democratically elected government with a dictatorship fueled by the ideology of Nazi Germany and be placed in charge of the United States,” the Justice Department said in a statement. “Kandula admitted to investigators that he would have organized the assassination of the President of the United States and others, if necessary, to achieve his objective.”

Kandula, who is from Chesterfield, Miss., faces a maximum sentence of 10 years and prosecutors have agreed to recommend a prison sentence of no more than 8 years, the Associated Press reported.

Federal prosecutors said Kandula, who was 19 at the time of the incident, spent weeks planning the attack. Before renting and crashing the truck, he repeatedly requested armed guards and an armored convoy from several security companies.

After his attempts were unsuccessful, Kandula flew from St. Louis, Mississippi to Washington, D.C. on May 22 and rented a U-Haul truck before crashing near the White House hours later, according to court documents.

The incident resulted in $4,322 in damages to the National Park Service, including barrier repairs, oil and chemical removal, spill cleanup and disposal of fluids from the crashed U-Haul, prosecutors noted.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story