OAN Staff Abril Elfi
11:07 AM – Saturday, May 10, 2025
A Massachusetts suspect has been charged after being accused of attempting to assassinate a cabinet nominee.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Ryan Michael English, 24, was arrested in January after allegedly attempting to bring a knife and two improvised Molotov cocktails into the Capitol in an attempt assassinate then-Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent during his nomination.
English was charged on Thursday with attempting to assassinate a cabinet member nominee and possessing a dangerous weapon on Capitol premises.
Prosecutors alleged that English had originally planned to kill House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and was inspired by United HealthCare CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione.
According to preliminary criminal filings, English approached a U.S. Capitol Police officer on January 27th and allegedly said, “I’d like to turn myself in.”
Court documents stated that English claimed to have two Molotov cocktails and two knives and indicated his intent to “kill Scott Bessent.”
According to federal authorities, English left his home in Massachusetts and traveled to Washington with the goal of killing Hegseth, whom the suspect referred to as a “Nazi,” and Johnson, as well as burning down the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think center near the White House.
During a search of English’s jacket, Capitol Police officers discovered a folding knife, two homemade incendiary devices constructed of vodka bottles with a gray cloth affixed to the top in one pocket and a lighter in the other pocket.
English had an initial court appearance on Thursday afternoon.
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