A man from Virginia who was arrested by Capitol police at an inauguration checkpoint in Washington DC with 500 rounds of ammunition called the incident an “honest mistake”.
Wesley A. Beeler, 31, of Front Royal, was stopped at a checkpoint north of the Capitol building at about 6:30 pm on Friday in a white truck and presented credentials that were considered “unauthorized to enter the restricted area. “, according to police documents.
Authorities found an unregistered weapon in Beeler’s vehicle, “509 9MM hollow-ball ammunition and ball” and shotgun shells. Beeler was arrested on five counts, including possession of a concealed weapon, possession of an unregistered firearm, illegal possession of an assumption and possession of a large-capacity ammunition feeding device, according to Capitol Police.
In an interview with Washington PostBeeler called the incident an “honest mistake” and said he accidentally drove to the restricted area checkpoint “after getting lost in DC because I’m a country boy”.
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Beeler said he worked as a contractor for MVP Protective Services, a private securities company, and the company had provided him with the credentials he showed the checkpoint authorities. “I showed them the opening badge that was given to me,” he explained.
Beeler also claimed that he forgot to remove the gun and ammunition from his vehicle before entering DC “It was just me forgetting to get it out of my truck before leaving for work,” he said. “I don’t know what the DC laws are. It still comes back to me, but I’m not a criminal.”
Newsweek contacted the MVP Protective Service for comment. This story will be updated with any answer.
Concerns about violence in DC and other states that led to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration increased after last week’s uprising attempt, which left 5 dead.
FBI director Chris Wray said the agency is seeing “a lot of worrying online conversations”, suggesting that the violence could occur in the coming days. In response, DC security officials closed the National Mall until January 21 and banned access to the opening. More than 20,000 National Guard soldiers were also deployed to patrol the area.
Several states across the country are closing their Capitol buildings on January 20, including Texas, California, Virginia, Indiana, Illinois, Oregon, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and the Navy.
Many of these states have already limited public access to Capitol buildings in response to the pandemic, but will increase security, with some calling on the National Guard in anticipation of the violence on opening day.