Man of Indian-origin gets eight-year jail sentence for ramming truck near White House

A 20-year-old man of Indian origin in the United States has been sentenced to eight years imprisonment for crashing a truck near the White House in May 2023 as part of his plot to topple the country’s government and seize power, AP reported on Friday.

Sai Varshith Kandula, 19 at the time, had pleaded guilty to one count of wilful injury or federal property damage in May 2024. He has remained in custody since his arrest from the scene of crime.

Kandula had said that he rammed his truck into the security barriers as part of his attempt to replace the democratic government in the United States with a dictatorship inspired by the ideology of Nazi Germany, according to a US attorney. When Kandula was nabbed, he told the authorities that he wanted to kill United States President Joe Biden.

As he was being taken into custody, Kandula took out a Nazi flag from his backpack and told the authorities that he admired Nazism and Adolf Hitler. He also said that his goal was to “get to the White House, seize power and be put in charge of the nation”.

Kandula has been sentenced to three years of supervised release following his prison term and ordered to pay nearly $57,000 in compensation, according to court records.

The authorities had found no weapons, ammunition…

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