Police have arrested a man who smelled of fuel and was carrying a flare gun into the US Capitol on Election Day.
The 28-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday afternoon as he entered the building through the Capitol Visitor Center. He had a torch, flare gun and lighter in his jacket as he tried to enter.
“Our officers just arrested a man who was stopped during our screening process at the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC),” the US Capitol Police wrote in a statement. “The man smelled like fuel, had a torch & a flare gun.”
Authorities later revealed the man drove to Washington, DC from Michigan. Authorities found “papers” on him, which they are still investigating, the US Capitol Police said in a press conference after the arrest. He told police he planned to deliver these documents to Congress.
These documents included a “manifesto” that discusses the “war in the Middle East,” The Hill reports.
Police tracked down the man’s vehicle roughly one mile away from the Capitol building soon after his arrest.
“Our investigators tracked the suspect’s previous movements and located his vehicle…which was just cleared,” Capitol police added.
Congress is not in session this Election Day.
Meanwhile, the nation’s capital city is on high alert as voters cast their ballots to decide the 47th president.
Officials have placed security fencing outside the White House and downtown businesses are boarding up their windows amid fears of political violence.
Large metal fences have also appeared around government buildings including the Treasury Department and near Vice President Kamala Harris’s residence. Metropolitan Police Department officers are also monitoring key areas in DC and polling locations out of an abundance of caution.
The Independent has contacted the US Capitol Police for more information.
Elsewhere, violent threats are already streaming in. Georgia polling centers have been targetted by bomb threats “of Russian origin,” their secretary of state said on Tuesday morning.
Two polling stations had been evacuated in Union City and Fulton County due to the threats. Secretary Brad Raffensperger said officials were investigating but they do not believe they were viable.
“We’ve heard some threats that were of Russian origin,” he said during a press conference. “I don’t know how to describe that that’s viable, we don’t think they are, but in the interest of public safety, you always check that out.
