Carlisle

Officer suspended after Mass. man with gun allowed into US Capitol for tour

U.S. Capitol Police "demand the highest standards when it comes to screening visitors, so a full review of this incident has already been ordered," the department said

WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 19: Snow falls over the US Capitol Building on January 19, 2025 in Washington, DC. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance will be sworn in on January 20. The inauguration ceremony was will be held inside due to cold weather. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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A Massachusetts man was arrested and an officer was suspended after the man was able to pass through security with a gun and enter the U.S. Capitol for a tour on Tuesday, authorities say. It happened amid heightened security in D.C. on President Donald Trump’s first full day in office.

The man, a 27-year-old, was found carrying a 9mm handgun concealed in his waistband, U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement Thursday.

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No one was hurt and “there is no indication that the man was coming to harm the Congress,” the agency said, noting they were told to be on the lookout for ”a man with reported mental health issues and suicidal thoughts who was believed to be armed and in the area.”

That warning came from police in Carlisle, Massachusetts, the department said Thursday. They'd been called for a welfare check on the man, who lives in the town north of Concord, and discovered he'd driven out of the state.

That prompted an alert to police departments along the East Coast as they tracked his travel south, Carlisle police said.

Officers spotted the man's car on 1st Street NE near East Capitol Street at about 1:15 p.m., according to Capitol police. They began to search the area and learned he had recently entered the Capitol Visitor Center and taken a tour of the Capitol.

At about 2:15 p.m., officers saw him leaving the Library of Congress after the tour and walking toward his car. He was stopped, searched and arrested, and officers found the gun, police said.

Security video showed the man entered the Capitol Visitor Center through the south checkpoint, police said. Magnetometers sounded, an officer performed a “secondary hand search” and he was let into the building.

The officer was suspended, and the Capitol Police Office of Professional Responsibility is conducting an administrative investigation into what went wrong.

“The USCP demands the highest standards when it comes to screening visitors, so a full review of this incident has already been ordered, as well as mandatory refresher training on security screening, so this never happens again,” the department said.

Police accused the man of carrying a pistol without a license, possession of an unregistered firearm and resisting arrest, among other charges. The case is before the U.S. attorney’s office.

After the man's arrest, his Massachusetts license to carry firearms was rescinded and other guns were taken from his residence, Carlisle police said.

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