WASHINGTON — A federal judge ordered a 19-year-old man who allegedly drove a U-Haul into a White House barricade Monday night held pending trial, saying he is a flight risk, and citing his alleged threats and crime of violence.
Prosecutors said Sai Varshith Kandula -- who graduated from a Missouri high school in 2022 -- is neither a U.S. citizen nor a lawful permanent resident. It was not specificed what citizenship Kandula holds, and prosecutors declined to answer reporter questions after the hearing.
Kandula is accused of repeatedly ramming a White House barricade with a rented U-Haul truck, sending pedestrians on the sidewalk ducking for cover. Investigators say he waved a swastika flag, expressed admiration for Hitler and eugenics, and said he was willing to kill the president to seize the government. A Secret Service agent said he outlined details of a six-month plot in a green notebook.
The Secret Service had said Tuesday they agency planned to charge him with threatening to kill President Joe Biden. But in court Wednesday, prosecutors only charged him with one count of depredation of government property, for the barricade he hit. The charge could earn him 10 years in prison.
Seemingly alert and coherent, Kandula looked around the courtroom and talked intently with his federal public defender. But lawyer Diane Shrewsbury said he can't see much, as she claims Secret Service took his glasses. A judge issued a medical alert to get the jail to replace them.
FBI agents searched his suburban St. Louis home. Friends from high school -- where he played tennis and was on the student counsel -- remember him as quiet and mild mannered.
There have been lots of questions about Kandula's mental health. But neither prosecutors nor his public defender mentioned anything in court about getting him evaluated.