WASHINGTON: A man with a loaded handgun and more than 500 rounds of ammunition has been arrested in Washington at a security checkpoint near the US Capitol, authorities said.
Wesley Allen Beeler, of Virginia, had driven to a checkpoint yesterday and tried to use a phony credential to access the restricted area where President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated later in the week, according to a document filed in Washington, DC Superior Court.
As officers checked against an authorised access list, one of them noticed decals on the back of Beeler’s pick-up truck that said “Assault Life,” with an image of a rifle, and another with the message: “If they come for your guns, give ’em your bullets first.”
Under questioning, Beeler told officers he had a Glock handgun in the vehicle. A search uncovered a loaded handgun, more than 500 rounds of ammunition, shotgun shells and a magazine for the gun, the court document said.
Washington is under a high state of alert ahead of Biden’s Wednesday inauguration, after a mob stormed the Capitol on January 6. Five people died in the assault, including a police officer.
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