Nobody was hurt, and the Capitol police said they found no evidence that the man “was coming to harm the Congress.”
A police officer who allowed the man into the Capitol after searching him has been suspended pending a department investigation.
Security video showed the man entering the Capitol through a security checkpoint. After magnetometers sounded, the officer performed a “secondary hand search” and then let him into the building, police said.
The Capitol police “demands the highest standards when it comes to screening visitors, so a full review of this incident has already been ordered, as well as mandatory refresher training on security screening, so this never happens again,” the department said.
The man was arrested on charges including carrying a pistol without a license, possession of an unregistered firearm, illegal possession of ammunition and resisting arrest.