U.S. Capitol Police arrested a man Tuesday after they say he drove from California to D.C. with a guillotine in the bed of his pickup truck.
Police arrested the man near the Supreme Court shortly after 3 p.m. Tuesday, after officers spotted the truck illegally parked.
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The driver, 35-year-old Phiilan-Tam-Duy Le of Julian, California, was arrested for carrying a dangerous weapon.
Congress was in recess, so lawmakers were not at Capitol Hill when the man was arrested.
Why a guillotine?
U.S. Capitol Police say they’re reviewing Le’s background to learn more about why he came to D.C. with a guillotine.
Le’s brother, however, told the LA Times the guillotine was a “symbol of disapproval” and said he was surprised to learn of the arrest.
“I don’t think he’d hurt anyone,” Le’s brother Kelvin said.
He added that Le was unhappy with both political parties and disliked both President Donald Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
A rise in political violence
The arrest comes amid heightened concern over threats of violence against members of Congress and other government officials.
According to the Bridging Divides Initiative at Princeton University, threats and harassment against local officials surged by 74% in 2024 compared to 2022.
Political violence has continued in 2026, including an attempted shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner earlier this year, which Trump attended.
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