A Michigan man who showed up at the US Capitol visitor center on Election Day smelling of fuel and carrying a torch and a gun also came with an apparent manifesto about war in the Middle East, police said.
Austin M. Olson, 28, of Westland, Michigan, is charged with possession of a prohibited weapon, unlawful activity and disorderly conduct, the US Capitol Police (USCP) said on Wednesday. Olson allegedly traveled from Michigan to DC on Monday.
The USCP said Olson was in the process of going through security at the Capitol Visitor Center about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday when officers discovered the torch and gun in his jacket. Inside his backpack, officers found bottles that appeared to have fuel residue and an officer noticed that there was a faint odor of gasoline or some type of accelerant on the man, US Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger said. That smell became much stronger when they opened the backpack, he said.
The man smelled like he had soaked his clothes in fuel, the USCP said Wednesday.
Police also found “what appears to be a manifesto” and a letter to Congress about the suspect’s views on war in the Middle East, the USCP said.
Police did not elaborate on what was in the letter, and the agency is still trying to determine why Olson showed up at the Capitol with those items, the USCP said. Earlier, Manger said the man had “quite a few” papers with him and said he intended to deliver them to Congress.
“It didn’t appear that he had gone off with all of his clothes … so it’s really unknown at this point what his intent was,” Manger said.
Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger provided an update on the arrest Tuesday afternoon.
Investigators tracked the suspect’s past movements and located his vehicle at 9th Street and Maryland Avenue NE. That scene is cleared, they said.
Manger said the video shows the man walking slowly toward the visitor center and looking around. He said the suspect was wearing heavier clothing than was necessary for the unusually warm November day.
Once inside the security checkpoint, the man hesitated for a moment when an officer asked him to put his stuff in the machine, Manger said.
Manger said Tuesday that his department has been on increased preparedness for possible election day violence, but “there is no indication that it had anything to do with the election.”
Every state attorney general in the country released a letter Monday condemning possible political violence, but Election Day passed without major incident.
“We expect that Americans will respond peacefully” regardless of the outcome, the attorney general said in the letter.
Experts have been telling NBC Washington’s News4 I-Team for months that support politically motivated violence is at alarming levels.
