A Massachusetts girl who advised police that she went to the U.S. Capitol to kill members of President Donald Trump’s cupboard mentioned she was influenced by Luigi Mangione, the person charged with fatally taking pictures the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, prosecutors mentioned in a court docket submitting.
Ryan Michael English, who goes by Riley English, was arrested Monday and remained in custody after her preliminary court docket look on Thursday. English did not instantly problem her pretrial detention, court docket information present.
English, 24, of South Deerfield, Massachusetts, advised police that she felt like she was “on a mission” and “had been thinking about for this for a while because of Luigi Mangione,” prosecutors mentioned. Mangione pleaded not responsible in December to state homicide and terror prices in a Manhattan court docket.
“I pushed that away because I was thinking like that is so stupid, that accomplishes nothing, that poor kid just threw his life away for like a minute of vengeance,” English mentioned, based on prosecutors.
English was arrested on weapons prices after she approached police on the Capitol and mentioned she got here there to kill billionaire investor Scott Bessent on the day that the Senate confirmed the South Carolina resident as Trump’s treasury secretary, based on a Tuesday court docket submitting.
Investigators mentioned they discovered a folding knife, two do-it-yourself firebombs and a lighter in English’s possession.
English additionally mentioned she traveled from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C., meaning to kill different Republican political figures — Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth and Home Speaker Mike Johnson — and to burn down the Heritage Basis, a conservative assume tank, based on police. English modified her goal to Bessent after studying an web put up about his affirmation listening to, police mentioned.
English advised officers that she was terminally sick and “wanted to do something before I go,” based on prosecutors.
“The criminal conduct for which she is before the Court is not a momentary lapse in judgment; rather, it was a premeditated and calculated attempt to commit violence,” they wrote.
Protection legal professional Maria Jacob mentioned English solely went to the Capitol “as a cry for help” and did not intend to hurt anyone.
“She was not aggressive when she approached the Capitol Police Officers. She never brandished any of the items as weapons and assisted police to retrieve the items on her person immediately,” Jacob wrote.
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