California man arrested after guillotine spotted in back of pickup truck across from US Capitol
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US Capitol Police arrested a 35-year-old California man on Tuesday after officers spotted a guillotine standing upright in the back of his illegally parked pickup truck, just steps from the Capitol building and close to the Supreme Court. Philan-Tam-Duy Le, of Julian, California, is believed to have driven across the country before the device was discovered in broad daylight in one of the most heavily guarded areas of the United States, prompting a police investigation into his motives and background.
Le was charged with carrying a dangerous weapon, and investigators are examining why he travelled to Washington DC and what led him to bring the guillotine. USCP said the case follows a string of unusual weapons finds around the Capitol complex, including a homemade sword and brass knuckles found on a man at a Senate office building screening over a week earlier, a machete and knives discovered at the Capitol Visitor Center last year, and a bayonet and machete found in an unmarked truck bearing white supremacist symbols near the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 2021.
- California man, 35, arrested after guillotine found in pickup near US Capitol
- Truck was illegally parked; device stood upright in truck bed
- Latest in a series of unusual weapons found near the Capitol complex
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Le, 35, from Julian, California, was arrested on Tuesday after US Capitol Police officers spotted a guillotine standing upright in the back of his pickup truck, which was illegally parked close to the Capitol building and the Supreme Court in Washington DC. He is reported to have driven across the country before the device was discovered in one of the most closely guarded areas of the country, and has been charged with carrying a dangerous weapon.
US Capitol Police is the force responsible for security around the Capitol complex, where Congress meets and where the Supreme Court also sits nearby. Investigators are now trying to establish why Le travelled to the capital and what motivated him to bring the guillotine, a large device historically used for beheadings that has occasionally appeared as a protest symbol in the US.
The case adds to a series of unusual weapons finds in and around the Capitol in recent years, including bladed items intercepted at security checkpoints and an earlier incident involving weapons found near the Democratic National Committee's headquarters. Such episodes tend to draw scrutiny because of the site's history, including the security breach of 6 January 2021, and its status as one of the most tightly protected locations in the United States.
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