U.S. Capitol Police officers arrested a man who attempted to bring a machete into the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) where former President Jimmy Carter’s body is lying in state.
The agency wrote a thread on X detailing the incident, noting that “During security screening at the CVC’s north doors, our officers spotted a machete in the man’s bag, stopped the x-ray machine, arrested the man, and secured the machete.:
The authorities also found three knives in the individual’s bag. He is facing charges for Carrying a Dangerous Weapon.
Just after 2:00 p.m., our officers stopped and arrested a man who tried to get a machete into the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC).
— The U.S. Capitol Police (@CapitolPolice) January 8, 2025
THREAD: pic.twitter.com/7XFL4wNt6d
Carter’s casket was transported to the Capitol on Tuesday afternoon where he will lie in state through Thursday morning. A state funeral will be held at Washington National Cathedral.
Vice President Kamala Harris delivered the eulogy on Tuesday to honor the former president. She praised him for leaving the world “better than when he found it” and said he “established a new model for what it means to be a former president and leave an extraordinary post-presidential legacy.”
Harris characterized Carter as a “gifted man who also walks with humility, modesty, and grace.”’
This is not the first time Capitol police have apprehended a person trying to bring a deadly weapon into the visitor’s center. In November, a man was caught trying to smuggle a torch, flare gun, and firearm in his backpack while entering the building.
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At a late-afternoon press conference, U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said security screeners at the visitor center smelled gasoline on the individual, described as a white male. A torch lighter was also found in the man’s jacket, and authorities located his vehicle several blocks away.
“He had papers with him that he said he intended to deliver to Congress. We’re still going through all of those papers—there’s quite a bit—and we are trying to determine where, in fact, he did come from,” Manger said. “As he approached the Capitol Visitor Center, he was walking fairly slowly, looking around. When he entered the CVC, he was observed looking around, looking up to the left, to the right.”
Manger added that the man is being interviewed and the investigation is ongoing.
President-elect Donald Trump is expected to attend Carter’s funeral on Thursday.
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