Security breach at US Capitol: ABC News exclusive

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: ABC News

January 23, 2025, 12:20 PM


A Massachusetts man was found to be carrying a gun after attending a tour of the U.S. Capitol as he left the nearby Library of Congress on Tuesday, police officials told ABC News on Thursday. Authorities in Washington were alerted by police in Carlisle, Massachusetts, on Monday that a man with a gun who had expressed suicidal ideations on social media was headed to Washington.

The U.S. Secret Service and Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police found the man in a Washington hotel early Tuesday morning and interviewed him, sources said. They searched for a gun and found no weapon and no further action was taken at that time, they said.

Later that day, the man went through a Capitol Police magnetometer screening and entered the Capitol Visitor Center. The magnetometer sounded an alarm and "an officer performed a secondary hand search, and the man was let into the building," according to a statement from U.S. Capitol Police.

After getting past security, Capitol Police were alerted to his presence and issued a bulletin to be on the lookout for the man. They located him after he had completed the full tour of Congress outside the Library of Congress a short time later and found that he had a 9mm handgun in his waistband, law enforcement sources said.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/security-breach-us-capitol-abc-news-exclusive/story?id=118027006

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Democrats should hold a press conference and for the rest of the week and into next week, start ranting and raving against Johnson would now be designated as "in charge of the (entire) Capitol and its security" like the GOP insisted Emeritus Pelosi was on January 6.

[Miguelito Loveless]

1. Wait.

The metal detector went off, the police searched him and missed the gun?

[moniss]

3. Pretty crappy search.nt

[AZJonnie]

5. Based on the article's verbiage

The apparent answer is possibly, but not positively.

[AZJonnie]

2. Story doesn't say he had a gun while in the Capitol

But find your idea amusing anyway, given we're living in a post-truth world anyway.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

6. But what set off the detector? And if he didn't have a gun when he was searched, where did the gun come from?

Not to give you a hard time - these are just some questions the story raises for me and that were not answered in the article!

[AZJonnie]

19. See post #18 below

No sweat, I can totally see how one gets the impression that the detector monitors MUST have failed from the article, but a careful parsing suggests that may or may not be true. I've triggered metal detectors w/o a gun, many times. Since I've never carried one in my life.

[LearnedHand]

11. The article says the exact opposite

Bold emphasis mine.

They located him after he had completed the full tour of Congress outside the Library of Congress a short time later and found that he had a 9mm handgun in his waistband, law enforcement sources said.

[AZJonnie]

18. It actually does not, it just seems like it

Last edited Thu Jan 23, 2025, 03:10 PM - Edit history (1)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the sequence of events here seems to be:

1) Enters Capitol for Tour
2) Is patted down after detector goes off (note: detectors can go off for many reasons other than guns) and found to be unarmed
3) Completes Capitol Tour and leaves Capitol building
4) Presumably walks over to the Library of Congress, a period of time in which he is outside, and his exact activities are unknown
5) Is found with a 9mm outside said library.

I'm saying the article suggests it's possible, not that it's known.

[LearnedHand]

20. Ah you're right!

I'm the one who misread it.

[AZJonnie]

23. All good, I read it a couple times, frankly because I *hoped* that the Capitol Police didn't mess up like it seemed

at first blush. Because I have bit of a soft spot for them for, obvious reasons It also registered to me that earlier in the time sequence he was questioned and it's suggested that his room and car searched, and no gun found. Which had me thinking, as I proceeded reading the rest of the story 'okay, so the guy had possibly already hidden the gun somewhere'

[maxsolomon]

15. Is 162 posts too late for a Welcome to DU?

I guess it is.

[AZJonnie]

21. Certainly not, and TYVM

[bdamomma]

37. Yes,

Welcome to DU!!!

[Juneboarder]

17. Welcome to DU, AZ!

[AZJonnie]

22. Thanks so much!

[50 Shades Of Blue]

4. The pat down missed a handgun that was IN HIS WAISTBAND?

[AZJonnie]

16. It does not explicitly say that

Says he was found with a gun outside the Library of Congress, which is of course separate from the Capitol building, sometime after the tour thereof.

[Traildogbob]

7. Probably

Just Boebert taking a newly released MAGA on that special tour.
So now, MAGA Miss Mike et al have their lives in the hands of Capital police! Interesting scenario.

[sarisataka]

8. Piss poor search

did the wand batteries die?

[nowforever]

9. No big deal

He just assumed after the pardons he could do anything, he was probably just looking for a good location to defecate.

[tulipsandroses]

10. Why the cause for alarm? He's just a tourist

Nothing wrong with that

[durablend]

12. This right here.

Clearly meant no harm seeing 1600 other people did the same and were let go.

[Historic NY]

13. Nice WTF kind of searches do they actually do.

If the damn thing alerted they should have got totally hands on, TSA would be searching his junk

[AZJonnie]

24. He could've had the gun outside and grabbed it between the Capitol Tour

and appearing outside the Library of Congress, which is *not* inside the Capitol building. Also, they're called 'metal detectors', not 'gun detectors' for a reason. I've set one off lots of times, and I've never carried a gun anywhere outside the home since Boy Scout camp.

Is this scenario less likely? Yes. But I don't want to assume the Capitol Police totally screwed up like this unless it's proven. This news story, as laid out, does not prove it.

[Historic NY]

28. He had and then he didn't have it

they don't have gun storage any more in any of the buildings. Besides that he was on a suicide mission/ I carried a gun in DC for a number of years, that's was when you got wanded, You didn't pass go if an alarm went off. I even went to the WH and the SS took the gun and checked it to a locked cabinet. All building have detectors now even the old PO where TRumps hotel was. The again the Republicans hated the metal detectors. Besides they have cameras all over the place, in all public buildings

There is more
https://www.abc27.com/news/us-world/politics/ap-man-who-took-a-us-capitol-tour-with-a-gun-in-his-possession-is-arrested-police-say/

[AZJonnie]

32. I read this other article, and it seems authorities believe he entered Capitol with a gun

And have suspended the agent who did the hand pat. Okay. That is more information than the OP's article snippet.

However, unless a) the guy has admitted it (which is not said in either article) or b) there's video showing his whereabouts at nearly all times after leaving the Capitol, up to being arrested outside the LoC, he could have retrieved the gun from somewhere during that time. Maybe he left it in his car? Maybe he chickened out during the walk to the Capitol and ditched it in bushes somewhere? Then he went back and got it during the unstated period of time in which he was outside. Both of these stories basically say it's suspected he had a gun in the Capitol, not that it is known. That's all I'm saying. He probably did. We'll likely find out.

There's also fact that it sounds like his hotel room was searched for weapons, and turned up nothing, before the trip to the Capitol. And he left a suicidal note on social media before leaving to DC. So, maybe the first thing he did when he got to town was go hide his piece somewhere near the Library of Congress, because he thought someone might report him to authorities after he made that post.

I suppose I should also add that I'm down this road because something about this feels a little sketch to me, where the Capitol Police are made to look like fools literally the day after Trump pardons 1500 insurrectionist traitors.

[electric_blue68]

33. While Not a gun, on my first WH visit I forgot to take one metal thing off, or out of my pocket and set the Alarm off...

I think it was a detector. Course, they had me step aside, and wanded me down. Found what it was. I was so embarrassed.

[Blue_Roses]

36. I've set them off too

due to two titanium knee replacements.

And btw, welcome to DU

[Mawspam2]

14. Perhaps the Capitol cop doing the patdown let him through as payback for 1/6/21.

That makes sense to me.

[twodogsbarking]

25. There's a convicted felon in the White House with his deplorable gang. Oh well.

[stillcool]

26. it's a shame you have to explain

so much about the article. I think it would be frustrating, but you are very kind...or I'm easily frustrated.

[patphil]

27. A loaded gun in his waistband, magnetometer warning sounded, hand search. And he still gets through security?

How does that happen? Don't they use a hand held device to zero in on the reason the warning was sounded?
I think there needs to be a full review of security policies and practices covering any and all buildings in DC that have security checkpoints.
The cop who did the hand search after the warning sounded need to be put in a less sensitive location. Perhaps parking enforcement.

[MissouriDem47]

29. Is He a Republican?

Will President Felon issue a presidential pardon?

[Aviation Pro]

30. Probably an appendix carry

No LEO is going there for a search.

[Oopsie Daisy]

31. Better luck next time... or, somthing.

[Solly Mack]

34. After the tour? After?

[Igel]

35. Yeah, I thought that a really important bit of information.

For two reasons.

But the primary one being that if he was going to shoot the place up, waiting until after he left would demonstrate a seriously bad sense of timing.

#2 would be actually pressing charges against him unless they had proof he had it in his possession inside restricted space--unless the grounds he was on at the time also have restricted carry rights. (Don't know DC gun regs, barely know the TX ones.)