Dear Commons Community,
Yesterday an individual rammed his car into two police officers in front of an entrance to the Capitol Building. One U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) officer has died, another officer was hospitalized with injuries, and the driver is dead, Acting USCP Chief Yogananda Pittman said at a news conference following the incident. Officers shot the driver when he exited the car and ignored officers’ commands to back down, then lunged toward them with a knife, according to Pittman. As reported by various media.
Police identified the officer killed as William “Billy” Evans, an 18-year veteran of the department.
The incident marks the first breach of Capitol security since Jan. 6, when a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the building in hopes of preventing lawmakers from certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. The attack resulted in the deaths of one Capitol Police officer and four rioters; it caused injuries to more than 140 other USCP officers.
“This has been an extremely difficult time for U.S. Capitol Police after the events of Jan. 6,” Pittman said, “and now the events that have occurred here today.”
Capitol Police lifted a lockdown at the Capitol shortly after the press conference, saying the area was clear of any more threats. The crime scene, however, remains restricted.
The Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department is handling the investigation into the attack. Metro Chief Robert Conti said that as of now, “it does not appear that [the driver] is known to the Capitol Police or the Metropolitan Police Department” and that the attack “does not appear to be terrorism-related.”
Media outlets confirmed with law enforcement that the driver was 25-year-old Noah Green of Indiana. Green described himself as a follower of the Nation of Islam and its founder, Louis Farrakhan, and spoke of going through a difficult time where he leaned on his faith, according to recent messages posted online that have since been taken down.
The incident took place at the northwestern entrance of the U.S. Capitol, where senators and staff usually enter the building. The outermost fence that police set up in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack was removed last week, opening the area to public traffic.
MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan aired a montage (see video below) showing GOP lawmakers ― in the weeks before Friday’s deadly vehicle attack on the U.S. Capitol ― raging against the outer perimeter security fence that was installed around the complex (and removed just last week) following the Jan. 6 riot. The supercut shows Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Josh Hawley (Mo.) demanding the removal of the barrier.
Cruz is among the most indignant, dismissing the security measure as “political theater” from Democrats.
Tony
Just a montage of Republicans balking at Capitol security in the past few months. pic.twitter.com/ZrQqzlWhfQ
— All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) April 3, 2021
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