JOURNALIST’S NOTEBOOK: Latest Capitol Security Incident Recalls How Often They Happen



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I easily remembered the names of Russell Weston Jr. and Miriam Carey – I knew them by heart.

I had to look for Michael Gorbey, Kellen Anthony White, Carlos Greene, Larry Russell Dawson and Noah Green.

After a while, the names get mixed up.

These are some of the names of those who have carried out a series of security incursions on Capitol Hill in recent years. I have covered or seen so many of these episodes that it’s hard to keep it all clear.

Which brings me to Floyd Ray Roseberry.

Roseberry drove her black van late last week on a sidewalk between the United States Capitol and the Library of Congress. Everyone rightfully panicked after the January 6 riot. But Roseberry’s most enduring legacy is that this is just another entry on the call for security incidents on Capitol Hill.

Roseberry’s parking work reveals how often these episodes occur. And, how laid back everyone is after dissipating.

MICHAEL MOORE tries to compare Taliban to rioters on Capitol Hill in tweet

It also portends that another security episode is likely to occur shortly.

Will I remember Roseberry’s name after a while? I have no idea.

Nobody died. The police did not shoot him. Roseberry just scared a lot of nerves for several hours on Capitol Hill. Roseberry aired some of his political outrages on social media – calling out President Biden and speaking of a “revolution.” Roseberry told police he had a bomb. Authorities locked down parts of the Capitol complex for five hours as they negotiated with Roseberry before he eventually surrendered.

The United States Capitol is a target, and always will be. The government ultimately determined that the fourth plane, hijacked on 9/11 and crashing near Shanksville, Pa., Was ultimately bound for the Capitol. We know what happened on January 6th. Ill-intentioned people come to the Capitol all the time.

And yet, despite the calamitous nature of these episodes at the time, they are often quickly forgotten.

The memories are short. But January 6 will amplify any security episode that unfolds in its immediate shadow.

I had worked in Washington for several years in the mid-1990s before I even learned of the bombing of November 7, 1983 against the Senate. The radical “Resistance Conspiracy” detonated a bomb just outside the Senate chamber to protest the US involvement in Grenada and Lebanon.

Russell Weston Jr., a troubled man who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, shot and killed two Capitol Police officers when he broke into the Capitol in July 1998. US Capitol Police Detective John Gibson, shot Weston, who survived. But Weston had already shot Gibson and Officer Jacob Chestnut down. Both are dead. Weston had stopped taking antipsychotic medication. A judge has declared Weston unfit to stand trial.

In September 2006, two dozen Capitol Police officers pursued Carlos Greene into the Capitol after driving a Chevy Trailblazer through a construction area as workers built the underground Capitol Visitor Center. Greene had a history of firearm offenses and was allegedly drugged. Greene rushed through an unguarded door and ran into the basement of the Capitol. A congressional employee who worked at the Flag Office – where voters write asking their lawmakers to hoist a flag to the top of the Capitol to honor a friend or loved one – ultimately attacked Greene after breaking through the building.

The name of the lodge office clerk is probably a name we should remember, but don’t.

In the winter of 2008, Michael Gorbey parked a van near Russell’s Senate office building, filled with explosive devices. He grabbed his 12-gauge shotgun, hoisted a three-foot sword to his back, and donned a bulletproof vest. Gorbey then set off on foot through Capitol Hill towards the Supreme Court. A Capitol Police officer pulled over Gorbey, who insisted he had an appointment with Chief Justice John Roberts.

He did not do it.

Gorbey was sentenced to 22 years in prison.

The United States Capitol Police shot dead Kellen Anthony White just outside the Capitol after fleeing a traffic stop near Union Station in July 2009. Police said after attempting to arrest White, he had taken the wrong direction on Louisiana Avenue NW. During the chase, White cut off another officer involved in an additional traffic stop. After a short chase, police said White then seized a handgun. Police shot and killed White near the Capitol after he refused to drop the gun.

Police killed Miriam Carey in October 2013 after she savagely passed a White House checkpoint and ran into a Secret Service agent. Carey then rushed towards the Capitol, sometimes reaching 80 mph and blowing through traffic lights. Carey then circled around the roundabouts in front of the Capitol as officers attempted to lock him up with guns. Carey threw his car into reverse and accelerated Constitution Avenue NW, on the Senate side of the Capitol. It wasn’t until a Secret Service agent and Capitol Hill police officer shot Carey’s vehicle that the chase ended near the Hart Senate office building. Carey is dead. Carey’s baby was in the back seat of the car, unbeknownst to the officers. The baby was not injured.

In March 2016, Larry Russell Dawson drew what turned out to be a fake Beretta on officers as he walked through a security checkpoint at the Capitol Visitor Center. Police shot Dawson, injuring him. Capitol Police had arrested Dawson the previous year when he interrupted a House session, shouting from the public gallery about abortion and claiming to be a “prophet of God.”

Noah Green slammed into a Senate barricade, killing Capitol Constable Billy Evans on April 2 of this year. Green jumped out of his vehicle with a knife before the police shot him and killed him. Green had previously expressed support for the Nation of Islam and held other extremist views.

And now we have Roseberry.

During his court appearance at the end of last week, Roseberry said he had not taken his “mind medication”.

The Roseberry incident ended much more peacefully than some of the other episodes detailed here. Capitol Police officers are not dead. No one was shot. Roseberry was not injured. This means that his name and criminal charges may soon dissolve into the ether of Congress.

Until there is another incident that needs to be sorted out and everyone is focused on it.

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People may not remember Roseberry’s name. But they will probably remember the episode. This is mainly because it happened so soon after the January riots. Most people don’t remember Noah Green’s name. But they do know that someone slammed into the northern barricade of the Senate and knocked over two policemen, killing Officer Billy Evans. It was the first security foray into the Capitol after 1/6. It probably left an indelible impression on the minds of many who live and work on Capitol Hill.

But the names? Time is doing this part of the story a disservice. Nor the frequency of such incidents. There will likely be another security incident on Capitol Hill very soon. It’s just the way things go in the citadel of American democracy.

We don’t remember many names. And it happens so often that it is even difficult to remember all the incidents.

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