United States Capitol Police (USCP) arrested a man armed with a machete and bayonet outside Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters early Monday morning, the law enforcement agency announced.
The man, California native Donald Craighead, was driving outside the DNC when he was stopped because his pickup truck did not have a license plate, the USCP said in a press release. The truck had a swastika and “other white supremacist symbols” painted on the side, and its driver described himself as “on patrol,” according to the statement.
Photographs released by USCP on Twitter showed the swastika covering the driver-side mirror.
USCP Officers Arrest California Man with Bayonet & Machete: https://t.co/0mhsoOC8vX pic.twitter.com/9SR1NXsJV6
— U.S. Capitol Police (@CapitolPolice) September 13, 2021
Craighead was arrested on weapons charges when police officers spotted the machete and bayonet inside his car. Both are illegal under Washington, D.C., law.
“We applaud the officers’ keen observation and the teamwork that resulted in this arrest,” USCP Chief Tom Manger said.
The arrest comes on the heels of the FBI’s release of new footage of the suspect who planted pipe bombs at the DNC and Republican National Committee (RNC). That footage shows the suspect carrying a backpack and sitting on a park bench. (RELATED: FBI Ramps Up Reward For Information On Pipe Bombs Placed At RNC And DNC Headquarters)
Capitol Police are not aware of any links between Craighead and other police cases, including the pipe bombs.