WASHINGTON (AP) — A Massachusetts man was arrested on weapons charges after he visited the U.S. Capitol on Monday and told police that he wanted to kill top Republicans, including billionaire investor Scott Bessent on the day that the Senate confirmed him as President Donald Trump’s treasury secretary, according to a Tuesday court filing.
Ryan Michael English, 24, of South Deerfield, Massachusetts, was arrested at the Capitol after he approached police and said he had knives and Molotov cocktails in his possession and wanted to surrender, according to a Capitol police officer’s affidavit. Investigators said they found a folding knife, two homemade firebombs and a lighter in English’s possession.
English also told police that he came there to kill Bessent, the affidavit says.
The Senate confirmed Bessent on a 68-to-29 vote, with 16 Democrats voting in favor of the South Carolina resident.
Investigators searched English’s car and found material for making a homemade explosive device, police said.
English told investigators that he traveled from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C., intending to kill other Republican political figures — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and House Speaker Mike Johnson — and to burn down the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, according to police.
“These actions were specifically to ‘depose’ these political offices and send a message,” the affidavit says.
English changed his target to Bessent after reading an internet post about his confirmation hearing, according to police.
English was arrested on charges of unlawful receipt, possession or transfer of a firearm and of carrying a firearm, a dangerous weapon, an explosive or an incendiary device on Capitol grounds.
Court records don’t name an attorney for English. A telephone message left with a possible relative of English wasn’t immediately returned.