United States Capitol Police arrested a California man accused of carrying a dangerous weapon after officers discovered his pickup truck illegally parked near the Supreme Court with a guillotine loaded in the back.
Authorities identified the suspect as 35-year-old Philan-Tam-Duy Le, who Capitol Police said had driven to Washington, DC, from his home outside San Diego.
The pickup was found parked unlawfully just a short distance from the Supreme Court building, officials said.
In a statement, USCP said officers first spotted the vehicle around 3pm Tuesday on the 100 block of East Capitol Street in Washington, DC.
When officers saw the guillotine — the large execution device historically associated with beheadings, especially in the late 18th century — they moved to identify the suspected driver and arrested him.
The location where the truck was discovered sits within close range of the US Capitol, the Library of Congress and several other federal buildings.
USCP investigators are now examining Le’s background as they work to determine what brought him to the nation’s capital.
This handout photo from the US Capitol Police, taken on August 25, 2026, shows a guillotine in the back of a pickup truck.
US Capitol Police officers noticed the the truck parked illegally and later arrested suspect 35-year-old Philan-Tam-Duy Le of Julian, California
News of the guillotine, and the suspected driver’s arrest, comes as threats against federal judges, and members of the Supreme Court, have spiked in recent years, according to data maintained by the US Marshals Service.
The uptick in violence has prompted concern from members of the judiciary, including Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who discussed threats to the federal judiciary and judicial independence in his 2024 year-end report.
Last month, Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett testified before lawmakers on the House and Senate appropriations committee about their proposed budget increase for 2027, almost all of which would be funneled towards security for the high court.
Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett testify during a House Appropriations hearing to discuss their proposed budget increase. The bulk of the funds would be used for security
Justice Barrett recounted how her son, then 12 years old, discovered a bulletproof vest in her home provided to her by her security team. ‘I didn’t know how to respond,’ she said
The Supreme Court is asking for a whopping $225 million increase for FY2027, a 29 percent increase from the previous year, and which would be used to protect justices both at work and home, and to bolster physical and operational security in and outside the Supreme Court building.
The request comes as threats against members of the federal judiciary are on track to rise by 38 percent in 2026, according to data from the US Marshals, a staggering increase, building on a 25 percent rise from the previous year.
‘Those statistics sound abstract,’ Barrett told House lawmakers about the rise in threats. ‘But being on the receiving end of them is not.’ She detailed how her protective detail had sent her home with a bulletproof vest a few years earlier, when the threats against her ‘were particularly intense.’
The vest, she said, was seen by her 12-year-old son, who ‘wanted to know what it was and why I had it,’ she said. ‘I didn’t know how to respond.’
The judiciary is not the only branch of government facing a rise in violent threats. In 2025, the US Capitol Police responded to roughly 15,000 ‘concerning statements, behaviors, and communications directed against Members of Congress, their families, staff, and the Capitol Complex,’ USCP said in a January report – a 57 percent spike compared to 2024.
Last month, US Capitol Police arrested a Mississippi man who drove to the North Barricade of US Capitol Complex with a handgun.
USCP said in a press release that the individual, 67-year-old Wendall Royster, pulled up to the barricade and asked police for directions to the US Supreme Court – at which point they noticed his firearm.
He was arrested without incident within two minutes of his arrival at the north barricade, USCP said.
