I think the officers of the Capitol Hill Police Emergency Response Team (ERT) who defend the United States Capitol are modern Samurai.
They are gentlemanly, vigilant, and they do a great job of keeping us from getting too nervous about the seriousness involved in their job by hiding their HK MP5 submachine guns in what looks like codura artists portfolios.
Besides, they just look cool.
Man With Suitcases in Standoff at Capitol
WASHINGTON – Police ordered an evacuation of the west side of the U.S. Capitol on Monday after a man dressed in black and carrying two black suitcases stationed himself on a plaza leading to an entrance.
Police, some armed with assault rifles, gathered at the top of the Capitol steps but did not try to get closer to the man, who faced the Capitol from a plaza below its west entrance.
Among the officials whose offices are on the west side of the Capitol looking out upon the National Mall are House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Cops Tackle Suspicious Man at U.S. Capitol
Monday, April 11, 2005
WASHINGTON — Capitol Police tackled a man Monday afternoon who had been standing near the west front of the U.S. Capitol Building (search) after he refused to move away from two bags authorities feared may contain explosives.
The unidentified man had stood silently between the two bags, an act that led authorities to evacuate part of the Capitol Building. Officials do not know yet what is inside the bags.
Among the officials whose offices are on the west side of the Capitol looking out upon the National Mall are House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Stay with the FOX News Channel and FOXNews.com for more on this story as it develops.
Bomber at Capitol [Sploid.com]
“Mysterious Asian man in black stands with two suitcases. Capitol police have evacuated part of the complex. Special Ops agents are slowly moving in … and have just knocked him down and dragged him off. What’s in the suitcases?” from Sploid by way of Wonkette.
U.S. Capitol Partially Evacuated
Police Tackle Suspicious Man, Investigate Potential Bomb Threat
By Spencer S. Hsu and Sari Horwitz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, April 11, 2005; 3:01 PM
A man, dressed all in black and carrying two small suitcases, prompted alarm at the U.S. Capitol when he walked onto the West Terrace steps facing the National Mall about 12:55 p.m. and demanded to talk to President Bush, police said.
Authorities said he never made any threats, but his conduct was suspicious.
While Capitol Police engaged the man in discussion, a four-person assault team quietly moved into position behind him using the cover of a natural stone wall, said Terrance W. Gainer, chief of the U.S. Capitol Police. During their discussions, police could see no indications that the man had wires attached to the bags, Gainer said, and his hands were free.
The team members eventually rushed the man and tackled him, Gainer said.
He did not appear to resist on televised video of the incident, which ended about 1:45 p.m.. Police then dragged the man by his arms away from the building.
Gainer said the man was unarmed and carried no identification.
Capitol police used X-rays to identify the contents of the bags. One suitcase was clean, police said, but the other contained suspicious items, such as wire and a watch, and police opted to blow it up with a water canon.
Senate Sergeant-at-Arms William H. Pickle Jr. said police first became suspcious while questioning the man. “They approached him to talk to him. He became nervous, evasive and stopped communicating with them,” Pickle said. “He basically moved the suitcases closer to his sides and positioned himself between them. What he did was enough to make the police back away, and he refused to talk and to answer questions.”
Authorities cordoned off the area during the episode, and some congressional workers evacuated offices facing the terrace. The Capitol was not evacuated.
The Senate opened its session at at 2 p.m. as scheduled.
© 2005 The Washington Post Company
