A man with two Molotov cocktails has been arrested by the US Capitol Police along Massachusetts Avenue, west of North Capitol Street.
The police said in a statement that the arrest took place at 3.30pm on Wednesday. The man threw one of the two Molotov cocktails at two officers while trying to light it, said the statement.
“USCP officers arrested a man with two Molotov cocktails around 3.30pm along Massachusetts Avenue, west of North Capitol Street,” the department said.
The man, identified as 26-year-old Bernard L McCutcheon of Washington DC, faces charges, including two counts of assault on a police officer and one count each for possession of a Molotov cocktail and assault with a deadly weapon, officials said.
Police said Mr McCutcheon had also dropped the other molotov cocktail – a tequila bottle filled with a petroleum-based accelerant that was stuffed with a sock.
He tried to run away but officers stopped him, police said, adding that the two officers were treated for minor injuries.
“A backpack that had two other bottles of liquid were also recovered at the scene,” said the statement, adding there was “no indication” that Mr McCutcheon “was targeting the US Capitol or Members of Congress”.
The department said the suspect was not involved in any protests in the area.
Last month, a 53-year-old man from Flint, Michigan, named Jerome Felipe parked outside the Capitol building with “a fake badge, a BB gun, body armour, high capacity magazines and other ammunition”.
Mr Felipe was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of high-capacity magazines and unregistered ammunition, US Capitol Police had said.
The Capitol Police have been on a state of high alert ever since the Jan 6 riots last year.
