OAN Staff Blake Wolf
10:55 AM – Wednesday, January 2, 2025
U.S. Capitol police officers have arrested a man who was reportedly driving his vehicle on a sidewalk nearby to the Capitol building.
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Law enforcement officials are currently on high alert following the New Year’s Day terror attack in New Orleans, which claimed the lives of at least 15 people.
After being alerted of a possibly intoxicated driver, Capitol officers soon apprehended the suspect, pulling him over and charging him with reckless driving while law enforcement officials closed the roads for a bomb squad to sweep the area.
“Before 10 a.m., our officers spotted a car that had been driving along the sidewalk, near Peace Circle, and into the grassy area near Third Street, NW, & Constitution Avenue. Officers took the man into custody. Please continue to avoid the area while we investigate the car,” Capitol Police wrote on X.
Security around the U.S. Capitol was already heightened as the new members of Congress are set to be sworn in on Friday, along with the the speaker election. President-elect Donald Trump is also set to be certified on Monday in a string of high profile political events, prompting an increase in security presence.
The department later updated the public in a separate X post, adding that: “Our bomb squad cleared the car and declared that it is safe. The driver is being arrested for reckless driving. Please continue to avoid the area, while our investigators continue their work. Roads in the area will re-open shortly. Have a safe day.”
Law enforcement officials did not immediately release the name or age of the driver, or reveal if the driver was under the influence of any drugs or alcohol at the time of the arrest.
The suspicious behavior follows attacks on New Year’s Day, when a 42-year-old man, reportedly radicalized by ISIS, rammed a truck into over a dozen people celebrating the New Year on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. The man was identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, an Army veteran. Additionally, another suspected attack took place hours later, when a Tesla Cybertruck exploded in front of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, killing the driver and injuring seven others.
Tesla founder Elon Musk responded to the Cybertruck incident, stating that it “appears likely to be an act of terrorism.”
“We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself. All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion,” Musk added.
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