Police: 19-Year-Old Sai Varshith Kandula Drove U-Haul into Barrier Near White House, Nazi Flag Found in Vehicle
The driver of a rented box truck that crashed into security barriers near the White House on Monday night has been identified by police as 19-year-old Sai Varshith Kandula.
Fox News reports Kandula faces multiple charges including assault with a dangerous weapon, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, the threat to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm on a President, Vice President, or family, destruction of federal property, and trespassing.
Officials released his name Tuesday and said he came from Chesterfield, a St. Louis suburb. No one was injured in the crash.
#BREAKING: U.S. Park Police identified the driver as Sai Varshith Kandula, 19, of Chesterfield, Missouri. He faces multiple charges. https://t.co/SFhM4WfZJY
— FOX 5 DC (@fox5dc) May 23, 2023
AP reports the Secret Service and the Metropolitan Police Department searched the truck after the crash.
Video posted by WUSA-TV shows a police officer at the scene sorting through several pieces of evidence from the truck, including the Nazi flag.
A U.S. Park Police officer inspects a security barrier for damage in Lafayette Square park near the White House, Tuesday, May 23, 2023, in Washington. A man police believe intentionally crashed a U-Haul truck into a security barrier at Lafayette Square park, across from the White House has been arrested and identified as a 19-year-old suburban St. Louis resident. No one was injured. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Officers retrieved the flag and plastic evidence bags that had been laid out on the pavement following the crash and placed them in the back of the U-Haul, a Reuters photographer said.
“Preliminary investigation reveals the driver may have intentionally struck the security barriers at Lafayette Square,” Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the Secret Service, said on Twitter.
Authorities offered no additional details about the possible motive.
Chris Zaboji / LOCAL NEWS X /TMX
Lafayette Square, which offers perhaps the best view of the White House available to the public, has long been one of the nation’s most prominent venues for demonstrations.
The park was closed for nearly a year after federal authorities fenced off the area at the height of nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, but it reopened in May 2021.
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