A Georgia teenager who ran toward the U.S. Capitol carrying a loaded shotgun while dressed in camouflage and body armor pleaded guilty Monday to unlawfully possessing a firearm on Capitol grounds, according to court records.
Carter Camacho, 18, of Smyrna, Georgia, told officers who stopped him outside the Capitol on Feb. 17 that he planned to confront lawmakers and “scare them into speaking the truth,” federal prosecutors said. He never entered the building, and no one was hurt.
Camacho is set to be sentenced Dec. 8 in Washington, D.C., before U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta. He has been held in custody since the day of his arrest.
As part of his plea, Camacho admitted guilt to two charges: illegal possession of a firearm on Capitol grounds and receipt or distribution of child pornography. Prosecutors said the child pornography charge arose after investigators searched his phone following the arrest.
Surveillance footage showed Camacho getting out of a parked car and sprinting toward the west side of the Capitol, near the National Mall, with the shotgun in his hands. When U.S. Capitol Police officers ordered him to stop and get on the ground, he obeyed.
“This individual was challenged by United States Capitol Police officers in order to drop the weapon, which he did comply with,” U.S. Capitol Police Chief Michael Sullivan said in February.
At the time, Sullivan said the suspect, whom he did not identify publicly, was wearing a tactical vest and tactical gloves. The shotgun was loaded, and Camacho had extra ammunition with him, Sullivan said. Officers also found a Kevlar helmet and a gas mask inside his vehicle.
According to prosecutors, Camacho told police he had bought the shotgun for “home defense” less than a week before driving from Georgia to Washington. He also allegedly said he left pepper spray and other tactical equipment in his car “just in case I don’t want to shoot anyone.”
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“He further indicated that he considered using the shotgun to breach a door to be able to enter the Capitol,” they wrote.
Kaia Hubbard
contributed to this report.
