An armed man arrested at the U.S. Capitol said he planned to kill Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and burn down The Heritage Foundation, federal authorities say.
Ryan Michael English, 24, of Massachusetts (
), was found with a knife and two Molotov cocktails on Monday afternoon near the south door of the Capitol, U.S. District Court records say.
"I'd like to turn myself in," English said after he approached a U.S. Capitol Police officer, the records say.
Officers detained and searched him and found he had a folding knife, a lighter and two 50-mililiter bottles of vodka with a gray cloth attached to the top.
English told officers he went to the Capitol to kill Bessent, who was being confirmed as Treasury secretary. He said he had more Molotov cocktails in his car.
He said he left home on Sunday with the intention to kill Hegseth, who he called a "Nazi," and Johnson, as well as burn down The Heritage Foundation. He said he aimed to "depose" the officials and send a message, records say.
As English headed to D.C., he stopped at a library in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and saw Reddit posts about Bessent's confirmation hearing. He then altered his intended target, the records say.
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!trump2024 !trump2028 !project2025 !the_donald !chuds !accelerationists !fedposters
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Why turn yourself in? They can give up on the idea and go home. No one would know.
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They're redditors
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Look at the plan he had to perform his noble act of terrorism. We're clearly not dealing with someone capable of thinking a plan through. He probably expects that he'll be hailed as a hero/martyr; I imagine many a Redditor will even do so. Of course, the years in prison probably won't allow him to bask in the glory, but...well, the whole "not planning things out" thing.
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Because the goal is to be that guy who got caught trying to kill the bad people
Whether the bad people die doesn't actually matter for this, so why even put yourself at risk?
Just turn yourself in, hey presto you're in the news
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