A man arrested at the Capitol on Monday, armed with knives and Molotov cocktails, said he was targeting Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other Republican officials, according to court filings.
Ryan Michael English approached Capitol Police officers outside the Capitol that afternoon stating “I’d like to turn myself in,” according to a police affidavit supporting the criminal complaint.
English told officers he was in possession of multiple knives and two Molotov cocktails, according to the affidavit, and that he had traveled to Washington with the intent to kill Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, referring to him as a “Nazi,” or Speaker Mike Johnson. He also mentioned wanting to burn down the Heritage Foundation, the affidavit said.
“USCP K9s swept and cleared the area, while other USCP officers and agents tracked down English’s car along the 900 block of Independence Avenue, SW,” a Capitol Police spokesperson said via email Tuesday. “Investigators uncovered materials to make additional Molotov cocktails inside the vehicle.”
The arrest came hours before Bessent, a hedge fund manager appointed by President Donald Trump to lead the Treasury, was confirmed, 68-29, in the Senate. Hegseth was confirmed Friday night as secretary of Defense thanks to a tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President JD Vance. Johnson, the House speaker, was in Doral, Fla., this week huddling with other Republicans and Trump at the House GOP’s annual retreat.
English’s arrest by Capitol Police comes after a string of weapons-related incidents at the Capitol.
Last week, Capitol Police announced they arrested a man carrying a handgun who had just completed a tour of the Capitol. The man set off a metal detector as he entered the Capitol Visitor Center, but an officer who performed a hand search ultimately let him into the building, according to police. That officer was suspended pending an investigation, police said.
Lawmakers with jurisdiction over the Capitol Police criticized the handling of that situation and vowed to review the incident.
“Ensuring visitors, staff, and Members of Congress are safe in the U.S. Capitol is our top priority, as it should be for the USCP,” House Administration Chair Bryan Steil, R-Wis., and ranking member Joseph D. Morelle, D-N.Y., said in a joint statement last week.
And on Jan. 8, as President Jimmy Carter’s body lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda, police arrested a man who allegedly attempted to bring a machete into the building. Later that same day, a second man was arrested for attempting to light his car on fire on the Capitol campus, police said.
English, meanwhile, is facing charges of unlawful possession of a firearm and carrying a firearm, dangerous weapon, explosive or incendiary device on Capitol grounds.
The affidavit said he traveled to Washington from Massachusetts on Sunday without a cellphone and used an atlas purchased ahead of time to navigate. His target shifted from Hegseth and Johnson to Bessent only after he stopped at a library in Chevy Chase, Md., and saw Reddit posts about the Treasury secretary’s confirmation, according to the affidavit.
English said he planned to throw the Molotov cocktails at Bessent’s feet and that he would have stabbed Bessent if he was able to get close enough, the document said.
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