Officer killed in US Capitol car-ramming attack

AFP

A US Capitol police officer was killed and a second injured on Friday after a vehicle rammed through security and crashed into a barrier at the Washington complex, forcing it into lockdown less than three months after a mob assault on Congress.

Capitol Police shot dead the driver after he jumped out of the car and lunged at them with a knife, Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman told reporters.

President Joe Biden, who was with First Lady Jill Biden at Camp David for the Easter holiday, offered his "heartfelt condolences" to the family of William Evans, the veteran policeman killed in the attack.

"Jill and I were heartbroken to learn of the violent attack at a security checkpoint on the US Capitol grounds," Biden said in a statement.

US media said officials had identified the attacker as Noah Green, a 25-year-old Black man from Indiana and an adherent of the black nationalist Nation of Islam movement.

Pittman said there was no immediate indication of his motivation or police file on him.

"It does not appear to be terrorism-related, but obviously we will continue to investigate," Washington Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee added.

Some of Green's online postings in March suggested a level of despair and paranoia. He said he was unemployed and had health problems, and made references to biblical concepts of the end of times.

He wrote that he had faced "unimaginable tests" and was now "in search of a spiritual journey."

In one post he spoke of being tormented by the FBI and CIA, hospitalized and subjected to "mind control," and called the government "the #1 enemy of Black people!"

He was also said he was a follower of Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, who promotes Black nationalist, anti-white and anti-Semitic thinking.

'Martyr for democracy'

Top officials expressed shock over the attack and sympathy for Evans, an 18-year veteran of the force.

"Please keep Officer Evans and his family in your thoughts and prayers," Pittman said in a statement.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered flags lowered to half-staff on the Capitol, calling Evans "a martyr for our democracy."

"Members of Congress, staff and Capitol workers, and indeed all Americans, are united in appreciation for the courage of the US Capitol Police," she said.

Biden also ordered White House flags to be flown at half-staff.

"We know what a difficult time this has been for the Capitol, everyone who works there, and those who protect it," he said.

The attack came with the scars still raw and security tight after the January assault on Congress by hundreds of supporters of then-President Donald Trump.

National Guard troops were mobilized on Friday and staff at the huge Capitol complex ordered to stay away from windows and seek cover after alerts went out over the incident shortly after 1pm (1700 GMT).

While Congress was in recess for the Easter holiday, text messages sent to staffers still working inside told them no one could enter or leave the building.

"If you are outside, seek cover," the messages said, while television footage showed what appeared to be the injured officers being loaded onto gurneys and into ambulances.

Following the attack, the blue sedan could be seen crashed into a security barrier on one of the streets leading to Congress.