A man who “smelled like fuel” and carried a blowtorch lighter and flare gun was arrested Tuesday at the US Capitol as millions of Americans went to the polls.
The unidentified man was attempting to enter the Capitol Visitor Center when he was stopped during the regular screening process, US Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger told reporters.
Officers picked up on a “faint” odor of fuel as the man approached the screening area and was asked to place his backpack and coat on the airport-style screening machine.
“When they pulled the backpack off the conveyor belt, they noticed a much stronger scent of gasoline,” Manger said of his officers, noting that the suspect “hesitated” briefly before sending his belongings through the scanner.
The screening revealed the man had what looked like a firearm inside his backpack, alarming police who later discovered it to be a flare gun.
Also in the backpack were two bottles of an “accelerant” that may have been gasoline, the chief said.
“It appeared that at least one of the bottles was leaking, and that’s why the backpack smelled so strongly,” he said.
The man also had with him a stack of “papers,” which he told police he intended to deliver to Congress, the chief said.
Heightened security is in place at the U.S. Capitol Complex as the nation awaits the presidential results. Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto/Shutterstock“We’re still going through all of those papers and we are trying to determine where, in fact, he did come from,” Manger said, adding that police were searching his social media for clues.
Fox News reported the papers were a 25-page manifesto with “anti-government” and “anti-Israel” statements, and that the man drove all night from Michigan to the nation’s capital.
Manger would only confirm that the suspect “appears” to hail from “outside the DC area.”
It was not immediately clear whether the man, described as a white male in his late-20s, planned to set himself on fire — or whether the stunt was related to the election.
“We’re certainly on a heightened alert and have been for the days till Election Day, today,” Manger said. “We have an enhanced posture in terms of our security currently and it’ll just continue through November, through December and January, and beyond the inauguration if need be.”
Capitol Police closed the visitor center for tours for the day after the incident. The case remains under investigation.
The visitor center is attached to the Capitol and accessible to the public. It serves as the ticketing location and entrance for tours of the building. It also hosts a gift shop, movie theaters and historic statues.
The incident is just one of several Election Day threats reported across the country — including in the swing states of Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin, according to a statement by the FBI.
“The FBI is aware of bomb threats to polling locations in several states, many of which appear to originate from Russian email domains,” the investigative agency said in a statement.
None of the bomb threats have been credible, the bureau added.
