A Senate staffer was arrested for carrying an unlicensed gun in the Capitol earlier this week, Capitol Police said Tuesday. It was the latest in a string of incidents in which a staffer or member of the public has gotten into the Capitol or an office building with a weapon.
“Yesterday afternoon a Member of Congress led an IDed staff member around security screening at the Hart Senate Office Building,” Capitol Police said in a statement. “Later that evening, outside the Senate Galleries, the IDed staff member — who is a retired law enforcement officer — told our officers he was armed.”
Kevin A. Batts, 59, of New Jersey, was charged with a felony count of carrying a pistol without a license, according to court records. The documents do not identify Batts’ employing office, but he is listed as a special assistant to Sen. Cory Booker, according to the most recent Senate disbursement records.
Booker’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The arrest came as the New Jersey Democrat was about to start a marathon floor speech, which was approaching 24 hours as of Tuesday evening, with the purpose of “disrupting the normal business” of the chamber to protest the administration of President Donald Trump.
While escorting a senator’s family, Batts approached officers conducting screening outside the Senate chamber on Monday just before 6:30 p.m., according to a police affidavit. He informed the officers he was armed, according to the affidavit. When asked how he got into the Capitol with a weapon, Batts allegedly produced a retired New Jersey police badge and his congressional ID. Batts offered to store the weapon in his car but was arrested by Capitol Police, according to the affidavit.
“All weapons are prohibited from Capitol Grounds, even if you are a retired law enforcement officer, or have a permit to carry in another state or the District of Columbia,” police said.
Capitol Police have recently tried to shore up their screening practices after a string of incidents and lapses.
In March, a staffer for Tennessee Republican Rep. Andy Ogles was arrested for attempting to bring a loaded handgun through security. The staffer told police that he’d successfully brought the weapon onto the Hill on a prior day.
In January, Capitol Police caught a man with a firearm who had passed through security and then taken a tour of the Capitol. Surveillance video showed he likely passed through a security checkpoint with the gun in his waistband, according to a police affidavit.
And in December, a staffer for New York Democratic Rep. Joseph D. Morelle, D-N.Y., was arrested after attempting to enter a Capitol office building with ammunition.
Police Chief J. Thomas Manger was called to testify before a House Appropriations subpanel on Capitol security last month. Manger said additional training was being provided to officers and new AI technology, to help screeners identify weapons and other prohibited items, had been installed to X-ray machines, among other changes.
“At the end of the day, these security lapses were not an equipment failure, not a training failure or a policy failure. They were, in fact, the hardest kind of failure to address: human failure,” Manger testified on March 25.
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