The tension returned to Washington at the gates of the Capitol. A man rammed his car this Sunday morning against a barricade that protects the United States Congress and he then began firing shots into the air from the burning vehicle before committing suicide.
The episode occurs when security forces are on alert for a wave of threats against federal buildings and authorities that gained momentum after the FBI raided former President Donald Trump’s mansion in Mar-a-Lago, Florida last Monday, and that unleashed a storm of hatred on the part of Trump supporters who saw that measure as a “conspiracy” of justice and federal forces against the tycoon.
Authorities said the man who was killed outside the Capitol was crashed first against the fence surrounding the building around 4 in the morning.
He then got out of the car, which was engulfed in flames after the crash, and began shooting “indiscriminately” into the air as police approached. As reported, the assailant shot himself as officers approached and was later pronounced dead.
Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said officers didn’t hear the man say anything before he started shooting down the street with a handgun and walked toward the Capitol. Officers then saw him shoot himself.
Authorities are investigating whether the man set his vehicle on fire, Manger said, because the crash did not appear to have caused the fire.
Investigators identified the man as Richard A. York III, 29, residing in the state of Delaware, but They could not for now find a reason why he wanted to hit the fences and kill himself in front of the Capitol. The man had no criminal record and no connection to the building.
In addition, authorities noted that it did not appear that the deceased was targeting any member of Congress, since lawmakers are on summer vacation and there are very few staff at that time.
Many on Capitol Hill remain nervous after Trump supporters stormed Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, encouraged by the then-president, alleging election fraud. Although this Sunday’s episode does not seem to have represented a serious threat, refocuses the tense moment that federal buildings and forces are facing these days.
Former president. The FBI raided the Florida residence of Donald Trump (EFE)
It is that after the raid on Trump’s residence in search of classified documents that the former president had taken from the White House to his home, there was a series of violent messages by extremists from the Republican party who called for a “civil war”. ” against the federal authorities whom they consider responsible for a “conspiracy” against their leader.
“Lock and load” (charge the weapons, in Spanish), was one of the main comments, while other posts were more explicit and said: “I’m just going to say it. (Attorney General Merrick) Garland has to be killed. As simple as that”. Another user posted, “all feds need to be killed.”
Some went to the facts: Last week a man tried to enter the FBI office in Cincinatti, Ohio, armed, and was identified as a “Trumpist” who had posted hateful messages against the federal agency on the networks after the raids. In one of those messages he had called for “the war” against the FBI and also to “assassinate the agents”. The attacker was killed.