On only the second day of the Supreme Court’s new term, the U.S. Capitol Police have issued a warning that a suspicious vehicle has been seen nearby the Supreme Court building where oral arguments begin at 10:00a.m ET.
According to the Capitol Police’s official Twitter feed, attempts were made to talk to the driver of the vehicle. The police ask that citizens avoid the area for the time being.
Update: The police have reported that one of its team’s safely extracted the driver from the SUV. According to an NBC News report, the police set off a flash bang to force the man out of the vehicle. At around this time a witness report by Human Events senior editor Jack Posobiec emerged claiming to hear an explosion outside the US Capitol.
Update: The suspect is currently in custody and had been identified. The Capitol Police will be holding a news conference at 11:45 am at the Russell Park stakeout location along Delaware Avenue, NE between Constitution Avenue and C Street, NE.
Update: At the news conference Deputy Chief Jason Bell, who served as the field commander, reiterated the facts of the case. He stated that at 9:30a.m. ET, an SUV was spotted illegally parked in front of the Supreme Court.
Police immediately responded, but the man refused to talk. According to Deputy Chief Bell, he made a statement, “to the effect ‘the time for talking is done.'”
At this point, the police pulled back, and crisis negotiation officers attempted to engage with the suspect. He refused to speak with the officers, and teams moved in around 11 o’clock.
At this time, the SUV is an active crime scene, and items from the vehicle are being processed. No weapons have as yet been found.
“Everyone did an outstanding job to keep the Congressional campus safe today.”
Chief Bell expressed his appreciation for all the officers involved.
Following these statements, there was a brief opening for questions. When pressed about the method behind the suspect’s apprehension, Deputy Chief Bell pushed back against reporters stating, “We removed the subject from the vehicle. There was no disruption of the vehicle.”
Another spokesman further elaborated, “We can’t talk about our methods because we want to obviously keep that under wraps. Because, you know, we don’t want to give folks a heads up as to how we might pull somebody out of a vehicle.”
Deputy Chief Bell ended the conference by noting that the motive behind the suspect’s actions are unknown, and more details will emerge as the investigation continues.
Update: According to Capitol Police, the suspect has been identified as a 55-year old male from Kimball, MI. He was arrested for Failure to Obey and Assault on a Police Officer. Additional news releases related to this story are not expected at this point.
Post by: CJ Fisher
Time Surf 