A staffer who works for New York Rep. Joseph D. Morelle, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, was arrested on the Capitol campus Monday morning after a bag search turned up magazines and ammunition, according to Capitol Police.
Michael Hopkins, 38, was stopped at an entrance to the Cannon House Office Building after putting his bag through security, police said in a statement.
“USCP officers noticed what appeared to be ammunition on the x-ray screen. After a hand search of the bag, officers found four ammunition magazines and eleven rounds of ammunition,” the statement said. “The staffer told the officers that he forgot the ammunition was in the bag.”
“He is facing charges for unlawful possession of ammunition, including one charge for possession of a high-capacity magazine,” the statement continued.
Hopkins is no longer employed in Morelle’s office “effective immediately,” according to a Monday afternoon statement from Chief of Staff Jo Stiles.
The Administration Committee has oversight over House operations and Capitol security, including jurisdiction over legislative branch support agencies like the Capitol Police.
Hopkins joined Morelle’s personal office as communications director this fall and prior to that was a founding partner at Northern Starr Strategies, according to his LinkedIn.
The incident comes amid continuing scrutiny of campus security, as law enforcement agencies prepare for the next Congress and the presidential inauguration in January. It follows an unrelated arrest on Election Day, when a Michigan man tried to enter the Capitol Visitor Center with a flare gun, torch light and bottles of fuel, according to police.
In an earlier incident in 2021, a staffer with the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer made it through Capitol security with a loaded handgun. The building was placed on lockdown and the man was apprehended 12 minutes later, Capitol Police said at the time.
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