White House U-Haul smash suspect Sai Kandula's friend speaks
A friend of the alleged neo-Nazi who smashed a U-Haul box truck into the White House security barrier and allegedly told the FBI he wanted to kill the president told The Post he’s worried about his state of mind.
The former classmate, who attended school with Sai Varshith Kandula, 19, said: “I feel like something … either has gone badly internally inside him or maybe between the family.”
Kandula — who emerged from the rented truck with a Nazi flag after his unsucessful attempt to reach the White House — was “the quiet kid” who enjoyed tennis, according to Aniket Sharma.
“He was never open to talking. And anytime I tried, he, it was just only small talk – never really anything deep. I always thought he was like a quiet, shy kid,” Sharma said when reached by phone Tuesday.
Footage posted by the Insider Paper from the Washington, DC crime scene shows the box truck ramming into the barrier before coming to a stop.
No one was injured in the crash.
Kandula’s plan was to “get to the White House, seize power, and be put in charge of the nation,” and that he would “kill the President if that’s what I have to do and would hurt anyone that would stand in my way,” according to a statement from a Secret Service officer included with his arrest warrant, seen by the Daily Beast.
A Missouri college student was left stunned in the wake of allegations his former classmate had been accused of careening a rented U-Haul into a White House security barrier, he told The Post. AP
Kandula also said he looked up to “Hitler, because he was a strong leader” and that the “Nazis have a great history,” according to the warrant.
Kandula has been charged with threatening to kill, kidnap or inflict harm on a president, vice president or family member, as well as assault with a dangerous weapon, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, trespassing and destruction of federal property, US Park Police said.
Sharma, now a Missouri college student, rejected the notion Kandula was a white supremacist or a neo-Nazi.
Sharma, now an 18-year-old college student at the University of Central Missouri, spent years living in the same Chesterfield apartment complex as Kandula and his family.
Speaking about those discussing his former friend on Twitter, Sharma said they had “never even met him.”
Sai Varshith Kandula, 19, emerged from the rented truck with a Nazi flag after his unsuccessful attempt to reach the White House. Sai Varshith Kandula's Missouri Driver's License
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He added: “They’re allowed to say whatever they want to say, but I just, for me it’s crazy that he’s done something.
“I couldn’t believe it for the first ten – five, 10 minutes … [I] never expected him to be doing something like this. I never thought a day like this would come.”
Asked if he knew if Kandula had a history of similar behavior, he responded: “Nothing. Nothing.”
“This is very unlike his normal behavior.”
Law enforcement sources told ABC News Kandula rented a U-Haul vehicle from Dulles International Airport in Virginia after traveling from St. Louis.
After barreling the vehicle into the security barriers, he reportedly exited the front seat and started waving the red, swastika-emblazoned flag before he was taken into custody.
In addition to the Nazi flag, investigators recovered duct tape, a backpack and a notebook filled with writing from inside the vehicle, FOX 5 DC reported.
Investigators are probing whether mental health played a role.
Kandula was slated to appear in court Tuesday. Benjamin Berger / Twitter
Sharma said he did not know of any social media accounts attached to Kandula, adding: “He just always used to do his own thing.
Kandula was slated to appear in court Tuesday.
Details regarding his appearance and his attorney were not immediately available.
Source: New York Post
