Police officer killed in vehicle attack on U.S. Capitol
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[April 05, 2021]
By Idrees Ali and Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A motorist rammed a
car into U.S. Capitol police on Friday and brandished a knife, killing
one officer and injuring another and forcing the Capitol complex to lock
down in an attack that police said did not appear to be
terrorism-related.
Police shot and killed the suspect.
Yogananda Pittman, acting chief of the U.S. Capitol Police, said the
suspect drove into the officers, then hit a barricade and got out of the
vehicle, lunging at them with a knife.
"It is with a very, very heavy heart that I announce one of our officers
has succumbed to his injuries," she told a news conference, her voice
choked with emotion.
Police identified the slain officer as William "Billy" Evans, an 18-year
veteran of the force and father of two children. Officials said the
other officer was in a stable and non-life threatening condition.
"It does not appear to be terrorism-related but obviously we'll continue
to investigate," said Robert Contee, acting chief of the Metropolitan
Police Department of Washington.
President Joe Biden said he was heartbroken by the attack and ordered
flags at the White House be lowered to half-staff. In a statement, he
said he was being briefed on the investigation.
Multiple media organizations, citing anonymous sources, named the
suspect as Noah Green, 25, of Newport News, Virginia. Green's brother
told the Washington Post that his sibling struggled with drug use and
paranoia and his family worried about his mental state.
According to media reports, Green spoke on Facebook about the "end
times", the anti-Christ, and government "mind control". He also said he
was unemployed after leaving his job, "partly due to afflictions," and
praised Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
Facebook said in a statement that it removed the suspect’s accounts from
Facebook and Instagram and were in contact with law enforcement.
Brendan Green told the Washington Post his brother had been violently
ill on Thursday evening at the Virginia apartment they shared, and later
sent him a text message saying that he planned to become homeless.
Police said the suspect was not known to them, and they had yet to
determine what motivated him.
"Clearly this was someone who was actively trying to just get at whoever
or whatever - we just don't know right now," Contee said. "Whether the
attack was at law enforcement, or whoever, we have a responsibility to
get to the bottom of it and we'll do that."
Dozens of police cars, marked and unmarked, raced toward the iconic
domed white building, in an unwelcome reminder of Jan. 6, when thousands
of supporters of then-President Donald Trump overran the complex.
It was the worst security threat at the Capitol since that day, when
scores of Capitol police were wounded, one was killed and two others
later committed suicide.
U.S. spy agencies warned in mid-March of an ongoing threat that racially
motivated violent extremists, such as white supremacists, will carry out
mass-casualty attacks on civilians while militia groups target police
and government personnel and buildings.
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A blue car is seen after ramming a police barricade outside
the U.S. Capitol building in an incident that reportedly
resulted in the death of one Capitol police officer, the
injury of another officer and the death of the driver as a
result of police gunfire on Capitol Hill in Washington,
U.S., April 2, 2021. REUTERS/Al Drago
Roads leading to the complex were blocked by police cars or officers
and people inside the Capitol were told to stay away from windows
for much of the afternoon before police announced that the lockdown
had been lifted.
Videos and photographs from the scene showed a blue car rammed into
a security barricade, a front door open.
HEAVY SECURITY
There were few people at the Capitol. Members of Congress were not
in Washington on Friday, with both the Senate and House of
Representatives in recess for the Easter holiday.
Dozens of National Guard troops, who have been stationed at the
Capitol since the January attack, quickly deployed. Heavily armed
and in riot gear, they jogged in columns to stand in rows at the
scene and around the complex.
Authorities have begun only in the past couple of weeks to remove
the outer ring of high, razor-wire-topped fencing erected around the
sprawling Capitol complex after the Jan. 6 rampage. Many of the
thousands of National Guard troops posted at the building in January
had also been sent home.
Lawmakers have been arguing about how much security should remain on
Capitol Hill, which is a popular park for city residents as well as
the seat of government. Members of Congress from both political
parties have introduced legislation to make it illegal to erect
permanent fencing around the building.
The Jan. 6 assault took place while the House of Representatives and
Senate, with the Senate presided over by then-Vice President Mike
Pence, was certifying Biden's November election victory over the
Republican Trump.
At the time Trump's supporters shouted slogans including "Stop the
Steal" and "Hang Mike Pence" as they attacked the Capitol and said
they hoped to stop the election certification.
Biden, a Democrat, took office on Jan. 20.
"This has been an extremely difficult time for U.S. Capitol Police
after the events of Jan. 6 and now the events that have occurred
here today. So I ask that you keep our U.S. Capitol Police family in
your thoughts and prayers," Pittman said.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Patricia Zengerle; Additional reporting
by Doina Chiacu, Doina Chiacu, David Brunnstrom, Nathan Layne, David
Shepardson and Diane Bartz; Writing by Patricia Zengerle and Phil
Stewart; Editing by Howard Goller and Daniel Wallis)
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