An armed man was arrested yesterday at the US Capitol for trying to kill Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who was in the process of getting confirmed, according to CNBC.
Ryan Michael “Reily” English traveled from Massachusetts to kill Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and House Speaker Mike Johnson, however he changed his plan when he saw that Bessent was getting confirmed.
English was armed with a knife and molotov cocktails. He planned to use both to try and kill Bessent.
What’s bizarre about this is that English actually walked up to an officer and voluntarily turned himself in and told them officer that he was armed and there was more in his vehicle.
Both he and his vehicle were searched and he was placed into custody and charged with “unlawful receipt, possession or transfer of a firearm, as well as carrying a firearm, explosive or incendiary device on Capitol grounds.”
CNBC writes that he had a letter which referred to these Republicans as ‘nazis’:
“Judith dear god I am so sorry. You must understand I can feel myself dying slowly b/c of my heart. This is terrible but I cant do nothing while nazis kill my sisters,” the note read, according to the affidavit.
“I love you. This is awful. Im so sorry. I love u. Please stay alive and heal. you can. you are strong enough. [F—] them for pushing us so far. you dont deserve this. Im so sorry for lying and plotting and lying. Please survive [7 hearts],” it read.
They add:
In addition to his initial intention of killing Hegseth or Johnson, English told police he considered burning down the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
English said he left his phone at home in order to evade surveillance, and that he bought an atlas with cash a month earlier in order to find his way to D.C. He also said he wore clothes that would conceal his appearance when purchasing the atlas, the affidavit said.
English said that he surveilled the Capitol grounds and figured he would have to kill at least three police officers in order to get to Bessent. English “expressed acceptance and content with the possibility of suicide by cop,” the affidavit said.
I guess English decided he didn’t want to die and decided to turn himself in? I just wonder why he turned himself in if he hadn’t done anything yet, when he could have just returned home. Like I said, bizarre.
You can read more about this at CNBC.