CHESTERFIELD, Mo. — A Chesterfield man will remain in custody after prosecutors tried to get him released on bond.
Sai Kandula, 19, is charged with one federal charge for damaging property. Prosecutors say he drove his U-Haul into a barrier at the White House in May.
Kandula’s attorney wrote in court filings this week that he should be released because he has no prior criminal record and was not armed on the night of the incident.
His attorney also wrote that his Indian passport was taken from him by authorities when he was arrested, though he spent half of his life in the U.S. In the same filing, the attorney wrote that he was dependent on his parents and was not a flight risk.
He was due in court Friday, and a spokesperson from the U.S. Attorney’s Office tells 5 On Your Side's I-Team he will remain in custody.
According to court documents, Kandula did possess a notebook that included a speech he planned to give if he successfully overthrew the U.S. government. In one passage, he threatens "consequence if civil unrest happens" and promises to "rebuild this world."
Kandula told investigators the night he was arrested that his plan was to “get to the White House, seize power and be put in charge of the nation." In that same statement, he told investigators he would “get to the president if that’s what I have to do.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote in an email that his preliminary hearing is set for July 13.
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