Source: Office of United States Attorneys
Defendant Surrendered to Officers, Admitted to Possessing a Knife and Two ‘Molotov Cocktails’
WASHINGTON – Ryan Michael English, 24, of South Deerfield, Massachusetts, was charged in a two-count indictment, filed today in U.S. District Court, with the attempted assassination of a cabinet member nominee and carrying a dangerous weapon on the Grounds of the U.S. Capitol Building. The charges are related to English’s Jan. 27, 2025, alleged attempt to take a knife and two improvised Molotov cocktails into the building for the purposes of attacking a presidential cabinet nominee.
The charges were announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr. and Chief J. Thomas Manger of the U.S. Capitol Police. English, who is in custody, had an initial court appearance this afternoon.
English, aka “Reily,” is charged with carrying a dangerous weapon or incendiary device on the grounds of the Capitol and unlawful possession of an incendiary device.
According to the charging documents, on January 27, 2025, about 3:12 p.m., English approached a U.S. Capitol Police Officer near the South Door of the Capitol Building and stated “I’d like to turn myself in.” English further admitted to possessing a knife and two “Molotov cocktails.”
Officers searched English and recovered a folding knife, as well as two improvised incendiary devices from the inside pockets of English’s jacket. The devices were constructed of 50 milliliter bottles of vodka with a grey cloth affixed to its top. Police recovered a green lighter from another pocket.
During the search, English allegedly confessed to being at the Capitol to kill a presidential nominee who was testifying before the U.S. Senate. Police recovered a note to a family member in a pocket that said, in part, “This is terrible but I cant do nothing while nazis kill my sisters…Im so sorry for lying and plotting and lying.”
English admitted to traveling to the District of Columbia with the intention of killing a government official or burning down a think-tank based in Washington, D.C.
This case is being investigated by the U.S. Capitol Police. It is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan M. Horan.
A criminal indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.