A man was arrested Monday after driving up to the North Barricade of the Capitol in a rented Ford Bronco with a handgun in his lap, Capitol Police said.
He asked an officer for directions to the Supreme Court, which is across from the Capitol’s East Front. The officer ordered the suspect to put his hands up after noticing the gun, and Capitol Police then surrounded the vehicle, taking the man into custody.
In a news release, Capitol Police identified the suspect as Wendell J. Royster of Columbia, Miss., saying the name was not on record with the force.
“Currently, there does not appear to be a nexus to the Congress,” the news release said.
He faces charges of carrying a pistol without a license and no permit. Members of the public are not allowed to carry guns on Capitol grounds, and according to the news release, the arrest occurred “without incident” within two minutes of the car arriving at the North Barricade.
A dog was chained inside the car and was retrieved by animal control, the release said.
It’s not the first time the Capitol Police have arrested someone with a gun this year. In February, a man ran toward the Capitol with a shotgun. And weekly summaries from the force show other recent incidents, including a July 4 arrest of someone attempting to bring a box with 49 rounds of ammunition into the Capitol Visitor Center.
In 2021, a Capitol Police officer, William “Billy” Evans, died after an attacker rammed a car into a Capitol barricade.
