A team of United States Capitol Police (USCP) officers recently arrested a man who was trying to get into the U.S. Capitol with a flare gun, torch lighter and bottles of fuel.
Earlier this month, a man walked into the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) and into a line for the USCP screening process. Capitol Division officers ordered the man to put his jacket and bag through the x-ray machine.
USCP officers spotted items on the x-ray, which appeared suspicious. After a hand search, they recovered a flare gun, a torch lighter, and two bottles of fuel. The man also smelled like he doused part of his clothing with fuel, according to law enforcement.
Officers searched the man and found what appeared to be a manifesto and a letter to Congress. The letter was focused on the man’s opinions on the war in the Middle East.
The man was handcuffed, moved outside to be interviewed, and arrested.
The suspect has been identified as 27-year-old Austin M. Olson, of Westland, Michigan. He is facing charges for Possession of a Prohibited Weapon, Unlawful Activities, and Disorderly Conduct.
The CVC was closed during the investigation and public tours were stopped for the remainder of the day. USCP investigators tracked the man’s prior movements and located his sedan at 9th Street and Maryland Avenue, NE. The car was cleared by the USCP K9 Unit and our Hazardous Incident Response Division.
The Investigations Division learned that the suspect traveled to the Washington, D.C. area from Michigan the day before.
“If our officers did not stop this man, yesterday would have been a very different story than this one,” said U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger. “All of our employees continue to work, together, around the clock during this heightened security environment.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and D.C. Metropolitan Police Department provided assistance.
