USCP Arrests Man with Flare Gun, Torch Lighter, & Bottles of Fuel
November 6, 2024
Press Release

A team of United States Capitol Police (USCP) officers arrested a man who was trying to get into the U.S. Capitol with a flare gun, torch lighter and bottles of fuel.

Just before 12:30 p.m., on Tuesday, November 5, a man walked into the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) and into a line for the USCP screening process. Capitol Division officers ordered the man to put his jacket and bag through the x-ray machine. USCP officers spotted items on the x-ray, which appeared suspicious. After a hand search, they recovered a flare gun, a torch lighter, and two bottles of fuel. The man also smelled like he doused part of his clothing with fuel.

Officers searched the man and found what appears to be a manifesto and a letter to Congress. The letter was focused on the man’s opinions on the war in the middle east. The man was handcuffed, moved outside to be interviewed, and arrested.

The CVC was closed during the investigation and public tours were stopped for the remainder of the day.

USCP investigators tracked the man’s prior movements and located his sedan at 9th Street and Maryland Avenue, NE. The car was cleared by the USCP K9 Unit and our Hazardous Incident Response Division.

Our Investigations Division learned that the suspect traveled to the Washington, D.C. area from Michigan on Monday, November 4.

“If our officers did not stop this man, yesterday would have been a very different story than this one,” said U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger. “All of our employees continue to work, together, around the clock during this heightened security environment.”

The suspect has been identified as 28-year-old Austin M. Olson of Westland, Michigan. Our investigators are working to determine why he came to the Capitol with the items. He is facing charges for Possession of a Prohibited Weapon, Unlawful Activities, and Disorderly Conduct.

The USCP thanks our partners with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and D.C. Metropolitan Police Department for their assistance.