A Virginia man arrested by Capitol police at an inauguration checkpoint in Washington DC with 500 ammunition has called the incident an “honest mistake.”
Wesley A. Beeler (31) of Front Royal was stopped in a white truck at a checkpoint north of the Capitol building at about 6.30pm on Friday and delivered a letter of credence deemed “they are not authorized to do so.” area to enter “, police documents.
Authorities found an unregistered rifle in Beeler’s vehicle, ‘509 9MM rounds of hollow point and ball ammunition ‘and shotgun shells. According to Capitol police, Beeler was arrested on five charges, including carrying a concealed weapon, possession of an unregistered firearm, unlawful possession of the assumption and possession of large ammunition capacity.
In an interview with the Washington Post“Beeler called the incident an ‘honest mistake’ and said he accidentally drove to the area checkpoint ‘after getting lost in DC because I’m a country boy.’
Spencer Platt / Getty
Beeler said he worked as a contractor for MVP Protective Services, a private security company, and the company provided evidence that he had shown checkpoint authorities. “I showed me the dedication badge that was given to me,” he explained.
Beeler also claimed he forgot to remove the rifle and ammunition from his vehicle before entering DC. “It was just me who forgot to get it out of my truck before I went to work,” he said. “I do not know what the DC laws are. It’s still coming back to me, but I’m not a criminal. ‘
Newsweek contact MVP Protective Service for comment. This story will be updated with any answer.
Concerns about violence in DC and other states that led to the inauguration of President Joe Biden increased in the aftermath of last week’s uprising attempt, which left five dead.
Chris Wray, director of the FBI, said the office was seeing a “large amount of online chats” suggesting violence could occur in the next few days. In response, DC security officials closed the National Mall until Jan. 21 and banned access to the inauguration. More than 20,000 National Guard troops were also deployed to patrol the area.
A series of states across the country will close their Capitol buildings on Jan. 20, including Texas, California, Virginia, Indiana, Illinois, Oregon, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Navy.
Many of these states have already restricted public access to their Capitol buildings in response to the pandemic, but will increase security, and some will call the National Guard in anticipation of violence on Inauguration Day.