U.S. Capitol Police officers arrested a suspect who “smelled like fuel” and had a flare gun and torch in his possession at the Capitol Visitor Center on Tuesday afternoon during the center’s screening process.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the U.S. Capitol Police said, “Our officers just arrested a man who was stopped during our screening process at the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC). The man smelled like fuel, had a torch & a flare gun.”
Following Tuesday afternoon’s arrest, the U.S. Capitol Police noted that the Capitol Visitor Center would be closed for tours for the remainder of the day due to the investigation into the suspicious incident.
Sharing an update later Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. Capitol Police tweeted, “Our investigators tracked the suspect’s previous movements and located his vehicle at 9th and Maryland Avenue, NE, which was just cleared.”
According to NBC4, the suspect arrested by U.S. Capitol Police officers is reportedly a 28-year-old man from Michigan.
During a Tuesday press conference, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger explained that the suspect entered the Capitol Visitor Center’s south entrance at roughly 12:20 p.m., where he approached the screening area, “stood there for a few seconds,” and then “put his stuff on the conveyor belt.”
Manger said the U.S. Capitol Police officers managing the screening area “saw what appeared to be something in the shape of a firearm.” He added, “They also saw two bottles in the backpack as the man was standing there. One of the officers noticed a faint odor of gasoline, and when they pulled the backpack off the conveyor belt, they noticed a much stronger scent of gasoline.”
According to Manger, after noticing the scent of gasoline, the suspect was “detained” and “placed under arrest.” The U.S. Capitol Police chief also noted that a flare gun and a torch lighter were discovered in the suspect’s possession.
According to NBC 4, Manger told reporters that the suspect had “quite a bit” of papers with him that he intended to deliver to Congress. The outlet noted that law enforcement officials were still working to determine the suspect’s plans.
Asked whether police officials thought the suspect had planned to light himself on fire, Manger said, “It’s hard to tell. He had some articles in his backpack that he may have wanted to set on fire. It did not appear that he had doused all of his clothing. There was some of his clothing that smelled like gasoline, but not all of it. So it’s really unknown at this point what his intention was.”
