Washington: A 19-year-old Indian-origin accused of deliberately crashing a rented truck into a White House barrier praised Adolf Hitler to investigators and said that he aimed to “kill” President Joe Biden if necessary to seize power, media reports said on Wednesday.
No one was injured in the crash. No explosives or weapons were found in the truck.
Sai Varshith Kandula, of Chesterfield, Missouri, rented the truck on Monday night immediately after flying from St Louis to Dulles International Airport, a Secret Service agent said in a statement of facts filed in federal district court in Washington DC.
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, 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.”
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.
