U.S. Capitol Police shut down streets around the Supreme Court and Library of Congress on Wednesday afternoon while investigating a suspicious vehicle — leading to the arrest of two men and a woman.
Authorities said they recovered two handguns and a shotgun after one of the men told them there were firearms in the van.
After the vehicle was cleared by the Hazardous Incident Response Division, streets were reopened around 6 p.m.
It’s unclear why the occupants of the illegally parked van on the 100 block of East Capitol Street were in the nation’s Capitol. Guns are prohibited on Capitol grounds. CNN reports the trio is from Georgia.
Security intensified on Capitol Hill following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Donald Trump loyalists hoping to interrupt the certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.
Concern for the well-being of Supreme Court justices escalated in June when an armed California man was arrested outside the home of high-court judge Brett Kavanaugh. The 26-year-old had allegedly “made threats” against the justice, who was crucial in overturning the Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion a federal right in 1973.
It’s unclear if Wednesday’s incident was in any way political. An NBC reporter tweeted that witnesses said a puppy was found in the suspicious vehicle.
______
