Police arrest man who had torch lighter, flare gun at Capitol doors

WASHINGTON — Capitol Police arrested a man Tuesday afternoon who was stopped during a screening at the Capitol Visitor Center because he smelled like fuel and had a torch lighter and a flare gun, the department announced.

A 28-year-old Michigan man, whom police have not named, approached a screening area and placed a backpack and coat on the conveyor belt at around 12:20 p.m., Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger told reporters at a briefing outside the Capitol Tuesday afternoon.

“As soon as his backpack and his jacket went into the screening area, U.S. Capitol Police officers staffing that screening area saw what appeared to be something in the shape of a firearm,” Manger said.

“They also saw two bottles in the backpack,” Manger said. “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.”

The officers found a flare gun and torch lighter, what appeared to be accelerants in the bottles, as well as papers that the suspect apparently intended to deliver to Congress, Manger said.

The man is in custody and is being interviewed by officers, and the department is still determining his intent, the police chief said. Manger said the man’s car was located several blocks from the Capitol.

“He had some articles in his backpack that he may have wanted to set on fire,” Manger said. “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.”

The visitor center was closed for the rest of the day as Capitol Police investigated.

The Capitol Visitor Center, the Library of Congress and the Botanic Garden were all open Tuesday despite heightened security throughout the city. The Library of Congress and Botanic Garden will remain open to visitors.

Capitol Police put up bike rack barricades ahead of Election Day, as well as fencing on the west side of the campus around the area where the Inauguration Day stage will be located. Some businesses around the city have boarded up their windows, and federal and local officials in the District of Columbia are bracing for potential unrest in the days and weeks to come.

“Beginning with early voting last week and through Election Day tomorrow and up until the inauguration, our team has one focus, and that is how to keep Washington, D.C., safe and secure for residents and visitors throughout election week and beyond,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a press briefing on security from Metropolitan Police headquarters Monday afternoon.

Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith said the department would be working with Capitol Police and other law enforcement to ensure a safe post-election period.

“We are in close contact with the U.S. Capitol Police, as with our other federal partners, on a regular basis, a daily basis,” Smith said.