Man Dead After Crashing into U.S. Capitol Barricade, Killing Self

An armed man crashed his vehicle into a barricade outside the U.S. Capitol early Sunday morning and killed himself after the car burst into flames, according to the U.S. Capitol Police.Police said officers responding to the sound of gunfire on the east side of the Capitol confronted a man firing indiscriminately into the air after his car burst into flames on impact with the barricade. He fired several shots into the air and killed himself as the officers approached him near the corner of East Capitol and Second streets at about 4 a.m.Late Sunday, police identified the man as 29-year old Richard A. York III of Delaware. His motive, however, remained unclear.No officers fired their weapons in the exchange, and no members of congress — who are on recess at the moment — appeared to be targets of the man. The background of the man is now under investigation.The incident comes after days of online vitriol over the FBI’s search of President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. According to the search warrant, the Department of Justice searched the home as part of an ongoing investigation into the mishandling of classified documents by Mr. Trump. Agents removed some 20 cartons of documents, some of which were labeled “Top Secret,” from the premises.Online threats of violence and chatter around such topics as “civil war” have skyrocketed since the search, most of it coming from supporters of Mr. Trump and directed at the FBI, Justice Department, and other government officials.In some cases, the threats have turned into real-world violence. On Thursday, an armed man later identified as Ricky Shiffer tried to force his way into an FBI office in Cincinnati. He fled before entering the premises, and was shot dead by police after a nearby standoff.Analysts studying Mr. Schiffer’s online profiles said he was active on Mr. Trump’s social media platform, Truth, and posted frequently about topics such as the 2020 election and other conspiracy theories surrounding the former president. Following the search at Mar-a-Lago, he posted notes about being ready “to kill the FBI on sight.”According to a report in the New York Times, Mr. Trump was so concerned about the increasingly enraged tone of his supporters that he sent a message to Attorney General Garland on Thursday stating that “the country is one fire” and asking what he could do to “reduce the heat.”The Sunday incident at the Capitol was reminiscent of another attack in April 2021 in which a Capitol Police officer, William Evans, was killed after a Virginia man crashed his Nissan Altima into two officers manning a similar barricade. The perpetrator, said to be a mentally unstable black nationalist Nation of Islam adherent, was killed by police when he lunged at them with a knife.

Man Dead After Crashing into U.S. Capitol Barricade, Killing Self

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