Pressure Cooker Detonated In Vehicle Near U.S. Capitol, Suspect Arrested
U.S. Capitol Police detonated a pressure cooker in a suspicious vehicle and later arrested a Virginia man in connection with the incident, Yahoo News is reporting.
At about 5:00 p.m. Sunday night, Capitol police identified the suspicious vehicle parked on the street not far from the building. Police investigated the vehicle and noticed the pressure cooker and an odor of gasoline. Police cordoned off the area around the vehicle and called in the bomb squad.
At approximately 7:45 p.m., according to Fox News, police detonated the pressure cooker, then conducted a thorough “hand search” of the vehicle. Nothing hazardous was found.
An unnamed security expert confirmed to Fox News that Capitol police were concerned the pressure cooker “might be the real deal” – that is, a device that was about to be used in a terrorist attack. A pressure cooker was used as a bomb in the Boston Marathon attack that killed three people and injured over 250, and Fox News notes that pressure cookers have been used in several other terrorist attacks.
Additionally, thousands of people were visiting Washington for the long Memorial Day weekend. Not far from the site where the pressure cooker was detonated, concertgoers were arriving at the Capitol’s West Front for a concert. Police noted that the bomb detonation did not interrupt the concert, and it went off as planned.
Police tracked the vehicle back to its owner and arrested Israel Shimeles of nearby Alexandria, Virginia. He was charged with “Operating After Revocation.” A Capitol police spokesperson declined to elaborate on what that charge means.
According to Koehler Law, “Operating After Revocation” is a traffic offense in the District of Columbia – a severe one, punishable by up to a $2,500 fine and a year in jail.
In fact, Shimeles may have had a perfectly legitimate reason for having a pressure cooker: Fox News reports that sources close to the investigation say that he either operated, or was intending to operate, a food truck, and that the pressure cooker was part of his equipment.
Regardless, Capitol Police spokesperson Kimberly A. Schneider said that when it comes to possible terrorism, they err on the side of caution.
“If we can’t determine whether or not an item is safe/dangerous, we’d have to treat it as dangerous until we determine otherwise.”
It appears that as of this post, police do not have any evidence to arrest Shimeles on any terrorism charges, although whether or not more charges will follow is unclear, as of this post.
[Image courtesy of: Getty Images/Drew Angerer]
