Capitol Police in Washington arrested a man who tried to enter the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center with three knives and a machete on Wednesday afternoon.
The arrest occurred as members of the public were filing into the Capitol Rotunda to pay their respects to former President Jimmy Carter, who has been lying in state since Tuesday.
Officers noticed the machete as the man’s bag was scanned through an X-ray machine. They discovered the knives soon after.
“Our officers know they cannot let their guard down for one second,” U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said in the statement.
The Capitol Police said that they temporarily halted security screening at the north entrance of the Capitol Visitor Center for about one hour before they reopened the area.
“Public viewing for the lying in state was not stopped and will continue throughout the night, into Thursday morning,” the agency said.
The Capitol Police on Wednesday also responded to a 35-year-old man who attempted to light his car on fire near the Grant Memorial. The driver was from Virginia, had a spray-painted vehicle, and was arrested for “Unlawful Activities.”
The city of Washington has been under tightened security since last week when two separate deadly incidents occurred on New Year’s Day in New Orleans and Las Vegas.
With the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump less than two weeks away, much of the area around the Capitol is fenced off, and there is a heavy police presence in the surrounding area.
The heightened security this week was also due to the Senate certifying Trump’s 2024 election victory on Monday, which was four years after an ill-fated 2021 rally led to some protesters breaching the Capitol building when Congress was certifying that year’s presidential election result.
The incoming president visited Carter’s casket on Wednesday before he met with Senate Republicans in the evening.
