Police arrested Wesley Allen Beeler of Front Royal, Virginia, at a checkpoint a mile north of the Capitol Building around 6:30 p.m Friday night (EST) as he tried “as he tried to make his way through security checkpoints in downtown D.C.,” the Daily Mail and USA Today reported on Saturday, January 16, 2021.
Police recovered two unregistered handguns, a high-capacity magazine, and over 500 rounds of ammunition plus shotgun shells from his vehicle. One of the handguns was in his vehicle console, within easy reach.
Beeler (photo, left) claims he’s a security guard, his credentials are genuine, and was late to work and forgot to remove the gun from his vehicle. He calls his arrest was a “mistake.” (Read story here and here.)
Yeah, sure. Unless he sleeps under a rock, he knows the Capitol Building and surrounding area are under lockdown — did he not see the thousands of National Guard troops? — and that if you enter that area with guns, you will be arrested. He’s either up to no good or dumber than a Thanksgiving turkey. The “mistake,” if any, was his.
Yes there was a person going into Canada with a grenade in the glove box and the very polite Canadians were taken a back. It was an absurd event that makes one scratch ones head. So is this situation with a contractor. One might have to start wondering if some of the security is a bit overmuch. Washington DC is our city, you know we the people. It is supposed to be the capital of a democratic nation not at war with a significant foreign nation. The home of the brave and all that. A place where the politicians are supposed to tremble at the awesome power of the people. Turning the capital into an armed camp and walling it in is the wrong response. It is overkill when the inauguration is going to be so scaled down due to the virus that it is going to be a virtual event. It could be done in the Supreme Court building or outside the Senate chambers as that could be convenient for the Senators and Chief Justice.
You can’t just walk into the Pentagon or CIA. You can’t walk into the Capitol Building with a gun, either. Imagine that. The police don’t have to assume this guy is harmless, they’re entitled to assume he might not be. At best, he’s incredibly stupid. The security is not overkill given that thousands of Trump supporters violently attacked Congress two weeks before the inauguration.