Indian-origin teen charged with threatening to kill Biden, Harris
Darpan News Desk IANS, 23 May, 2023 11:33 AM
ew York, May 23 (IANS) An Indian-origin teen has been charged with threatening to kill President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in order to "seize power", according to media reports quoting officials.
Sai Varshith Kandula, 19, allegedly rammed a rented truck into White House House barriers on Monday night.
ABC News said that according to police he was charged with "threatening to kill, kidnap or inflict harm on a President, Vice President or their families".
The network reported that three law enforcement sources confirmed that Kandula told law enforcement that "he wanted to seize power, take over the government and kill the president".
Officials were also looking into the "mental health component" of the attack, it added.
Kandula may have neo-Nazi sympathies, according to media reports.
WUSA9 TV station reported that a Nazi flag was removed from the vehicle.
NBC News said that the charges of threatening to kill, kidnap or harm the President, Vice President or a relative stemmed from his statements to the Secret Service, the agency that protects the President and other VIPs.
Secret Service Spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said that shortly before 10.00 p.m., officers "detained the driver of a box truck after the vehicle collided with security barriers on the north side of Lafayette Square at 16th Street".
NBC News reported that a robot was used to examine the truck for explosives but none were found.
There were no injuries to anyone in the incident and it was not known if Biden or Harris were at the White House at that time.
Biden had held talks with Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the White House on averting a financial crisis by raising the borrowing limits for the US government to avoid a default.
Kandula, who is from Chesterfield in Missouri state, flew to Washington and rested the truck at the airport.
Kumar Amrit, a 29 year-old Indian national formerly working with a yoga institute in Singapore, was fined $4,000 by a court here on Thursday after he pleaded guilty to molesting a female student last year. Both Kumar and Singh were employees of Trust Yoga.
Arvin Raj Mathur, 32, of Grass Lake in Jackson County, was arrested on Friday at Detroit Metropolitan Airport and he is being temporarily held without bond, The Detroit News reported. Mathur is being held temporarily without bond in St. Clair County Jail and awaiting a detention hearing on Tuesday in a federal court in Detroit.
According to the report, the number of British-based Foreign Office staff was between 110 and 119 in the Pakistan embassy and consulate. This fell to 50-59, a cut equivalent to about 50 per cent.
According to police, at around 9 pm last week, Brar pointed a gun at a grab driver and attempted to snatch his belt bag near Trees Residence Condominium along Quirino Highway. The driver resisted and his cries for help alerted patrolling police officers in the area, who responded and immediately arrested Brar.
Sahithi was rushed to emergency care at Mosaic Life Care in St Joseph, Missouri, after the car hit a traffic light pole, leaving her severely injured. Sahithi, a graduate student whose parents are in India, is looking for support to meet her medical expenses.
The two leaders will discuss ongoing upgrades to the aging, jointly led Norad continental defence system, which came under heavy scrutiny last month when a Chinese surveillance balloon drifted through U.S. and Canadian airspace.
