SoCal man with a guillotine is arrested near U.S. Supreme Court building, police say

Police seized a guillotine that was spotted Tuesday afternoon in the bed of a pickup truck along the 100 block of East Capitol Street. (U.S. Capitol Police) See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search. Set us as preferred A Southern California man who had a guillotine in the back of his pickup truck has been arrested near the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, authorities said.U.S. Capitol Police said Tuesday they had arrested Philan-Tam-Duy Le, 35, on suspicion of carrying a dangerous weapon: the guillotine. A guillotine rises from the bed of a pickup. Philan-Tam-Duy Le of Julian was arrested on suspicion of carrying a dangerous weapon. (United States Capitol Police) Le’s motivations remain unclear. He is a resident of the small town of Julian in San Diego County, authorities said, and drove across the country from California.Department investigators “are going through the suspect’s background to learn more about why he came to Washington, D.C.,” Capitol police said in a statement. The pickup truck, officials said, was illegally parked along the 100 block of East Capitol Street, where the U.S. Supreme Court building is also located. The block is near the U.S. Capitol and the Library of Congress. More to Read Sign up for Essential California The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning. By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads. Iris Kwok is a reporting fellow at the Los Angeles Times. Previously, she covered the environment at Berkeleyside as a Report for America corps member. She studied political science and music at UC Berkeley and got her start in journalism at the Daily Californian. A lifelong cellist, she has written about classical music for the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Classical Voice, San Francisco Examiner and KQED. She grew up in the Bay Area and the Sacramento region. More From the Los Angeles Times Podcasts Most Read in California