An armed man arrested at the U.S. Capitol said he planned to kill Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and burn down The Heritage Foundation, federal authorities say.
Ryan Michael English, of Massachusetts, was found with a knife and two Molotov cocktails on Monday afternoon near the south door of the Capitol, U.S. District Court records say.
“I’d like to turn myself in,” English said after he approached a U.S. Capitol Police officer, the records say.
Officers detained and searched him and found he had a folding knife, a lighter and two 50-mililiter bottles of vodka with a gray cloth attached to the top.
English told officers he went to the Capitol to kill Bessent, who was being confirmed as Treasury secretary. He said he had more Molotov cocktails in his car.
He said he left home on Sunday with the intention to kill Hegseth, who he called a “Nazi,” and Johnson, as well as burn down The Heritage Foundation. He said he aimed to “depose” the officials and send a message, records say.
As English headed to D.C., he stopped at a library in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and saw Reddit posts about Bessent’s confirmation hearing. He then altered his intended target, the records say.
English considered lighting the Molotov cocktails and throwing them at Bessent’s feet.
His car was found in the 900 block of Independence Avenue SW. Officers searched the car and found a 750-mililiter bottle of vodka and a gray sweatshirt with cloth cut from the sleeves. The cloth matched what officers found on the Molotov cocktails in English’s pockets.
In English’s pockets, officers also found a letter of apology to a woman written on the back of a receipt.
“Dear god I am so sorry. You must understand I can feel myself dying slowly b/c of my heart. This is terrible but I cant do nothing while nazis kill my sisters. I love you. This is awful. Im so sorry. I love u,” it said, in part.
English said he would have stabbed Bessent if he were able to get close to him. After looking at security at the Capitol, English thought he would have to kill at least three officers to be able to get to Bessent. He realized he might be killed by police during the attack.
English is accused of weapons possession and carrying a weapon on Capitol grounds.
