A 19-year-old Indian-origin teenager was arrested in the US for crashing a truck into a White House barrier on Monday. The teenager told authorities he wanted to get inside the mansion to “seize power” and “kill” President Joe Biden. The incident happened on the north side of Lafayette Park, which was a good distance from the White House gates. No one was injured in the crash, but it prompted road and sidewalk closures. The nearby Hay-Adams hotel had to be evacuated.
The teenager rented the truck in Missouri on Monday night immediately after flying from St Louis to Dulles International Airport on a one-way ticket. He drove the vehicle onto a sidewalk outside the White House and into a metal barrier just north of the White House. The teenager put the truck in reverse and crashed into the barrier a second time before United States Park Police officers took him into custody.
Kandula told authorities he had been planning the attack for six months and detailed the plans in a “green book.” When Secret Service agents asked Kandula about a flag with a swastika he removed from a backpack, he allegedly said he’d bought it online because Nazis “have a great history.” Kandula appeared in Washington DC Superior Court on Tuesday and is expected to make an initial appearance in federal court Wednesday afternoon.
