A man arrested in Washington DC near the US Capitol building on Monday with a folding knife and two molotov cocktails intended to kill the prominent Republican politicians Mike Johnson, Pete Hegseth and Scott Bessent, federal prosecutors have alleged in court filings.
The man, named as Ryan English in the court documents, turned himself in to police near an entrance to the Capitol. A search of English, prosecutors allege, showed he had two “destructive devices” on him in the form of 50ml bottles containing Absolut brand vodka with torn clothing stuffed into them. He was also carrying a folding knife, they say in filings obtained by the Guardian and first reported on by Politico.
A further search of English’s nearby vehicle found another, larger bottle of vodka and a grey sweatshirt that prosecutors say was consistent with the material in the improvised molotov cocktails.
English said that he had left his Massachusetts home intending to kill Johnson, the US House speaker, and Hegseth, who recently secured Senate confirmation to serve as defense secretary under the second Donald Trump presidential administration. English called Hegseth a “Nazi”, according to evidence provided to a federal court in Washington.
He allegedly added he also wanted to kill Bessent, Trump’s new treasury secretary, after learning that the hedge fund manager and investor had been confirmed by the Senate on Monday. Investigators said they suspected English may have also potentially wanted to burn down the Heritage Foundation, a rightwing lobby group that supports Trump and is near the Capitol.
English had been aware that he could have died as a result of this attempt, prosecutors said, and had written a note to a loved one apologizing for this. “Fuck them for pushing us so far,” he wrote. “You don’t deserve this.”
According to authorities, English faces charges of unlawfully transporting a firearm as well as bringing an incendiary device to the Capitol.
