The U.S. Capitol Police arrested a man on Tuesday for allegedly having a guillotine in the bed of his pickup truck. The man, identified as Philan-Tam-Duy Le from Julian, California, faced charges of carrying a dangerous weapon and possessing the guillotine, according to the police news release.
Le’s truck was parked illegally along the 100 block of East Capitol Street. U.S. Capitol Police reported that Le, 35, drove from California to Washington. Authorities are investigating his background to understand his reasons for the trip.
The guillotine was visible in the truck bed near both the Capitol and the Supreme Court buildings. At the time of the arrest, Congress was in recess, with lawmakers away in their home districts.
An Instagram account linked to Le featured a video story taken outside the FBI headquarters in Washington. In the video, a man is seen with the guillotine, stating, “Outside the FBI building, just eating some cheese pizza.” The post was captioned “Guillotine adventures” with a mention of “Capital hill next.”
The Capitol Police noted they often make arrests beyond Capitol grounds. Such incidents do not necessarily have political motives.