A Massachusetts resident, identified as Riley Jane English, was apprehended at the U.S. Capitol on Monday, armed with Molotov cocktails and knives.
English, a 24-year-old transgender woman, was reportedly intent on assassinating Scott Bessent, according to local news outlet WWLP. The news outlet initially referred to English by her birth name, Ryan Michael English, but later updated their report to reflect her chosen name.
As reported by The Post Millennial, English was found with a receipt in her pocket bearing a handwritten message: "Judith dear god I am so sorry," it began. "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. Please stay alive and heal. you can. you are strong enough. F*ck them for pushing us so far. you dont deserve this. Im so sorry for lying and plotting and lying. Please survive [7 hearts]."
This incident comes on the heels of a violent episode in Vermont involving two transgender individuals, a man and a non-binary woman, who engaged in a fatal shootout with a Vermont Border Patrol officer. The man and the officer lost their lives, while the non-binary individual sustained injuries.
English, according to the affidavit, approached a Capitol Police Officer near the South Door of the Capitol Building, where the Senate committee was holding a confirmation hearing for now-confirmed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. "I'd like to turn myself in," English reportedly told the officer, confessing her intention to "kill Scott Bessent." Upon detaining English, law enforcement discovered two Molotov cocktails, a folding knife, and a lighter in her possession.
The Molotov cocktails were made from 50 ml vodka bottles with cloth soaked in hand sanitizer on top. English confessed to officers, "I didnt have a plan in my mind," adding, "I felt like I had to do this. I felt like I was on a mission Maybe I told myself to have faith and just see where this goes and I had been thinking about for this for a while because of Luigi Mangione. I have seen the response to that and that situation It was not an everyday thing and it extremely shook up everything." Mangione was previously arrested for the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thomson.
A subsequent search of English's vehicle revealed a 750 ml bottle of 100 proof vodka, a grey sweatshirt matching the fabric on the Molotov cocktails, and bomb-making materials. "Police allege her intentions in Washington included burning down the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. According to the police report, all this was specifically to depose these political offices and send a message,'" WWLP reported.
The affidavit further stated that English had initially planned to target the 'Nazi' Secretary of Defense, Peter Hegseth, and/or the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, and/or the Heritage Foundation. However, after a stop at a library in Chevy Chase, Maryland, English shifted her focus to Bessent upon learning of his confirmation. "Originally, Englishs thoughts were to use the small bottles of vodka to start fires and later to wrap them in rags soaked in alcohol, light them and throw them at Bessents feet," the affidavit read. It also noted that English had planned to stab Bessent with the knife she had brought from home, should she get close enough.
The affidavit suggests that English was prepared to die in the course of her attack, possibly anticipating a suicide-by-cop scenario. This incident underscores the escalating tensions and potential for violence in the current political climate, even as it raises questions about the motivations and mental state of the individual involved.
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