US Capitol Police arrest man with guillotine in back of pickup truck; judge releases him
Philan-Tam-Duy Le is charged with misdemeanor weapons charge after he was detained near Supreme Court; judge says suspect ‘didn’t even threaten anyone’
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A 35-year-old man who was arrested in Washington this week after police noticed a guillotine in the bed of his pickup truck was released from jail on Wednesday pending a hearing in late September, The Washington Post reported.
Judge Robert Hildum called possessing the execution device a “very, very serious thing,” but that Philan-Tam-Duy Le, who was arrested on Tuesday, was “completely cooperative” and “didn’t even threaten anyone.”
Le was initially charged with carrying a dangerous weapon.
On Wednesday, however, prosecutors only charged him with a misdemeanor count of attempted possession of a prohibited weapon, according to the Post.
Le’s pickup truck was illegally parked on a street near the US Supreme Court building and the US Capitol at the time of his arrest.
Police said they seized the guillotine. It was not clear if it was operational.
This afternoon our officers seized a guillotine, which they spotted in the bed of a pickup truck along the 100 block of East Capitol Street.
You can learn more about the arrest here: https://t.co/JibVXWBj8j pic.twitter.com/orxccDAyZc
— The U.S. Capitol Police (@CapitolPolice) August 25, 2026
Le is from Julian, California, and drove to the nation’s capital, police said.
“Investigators are going through the suspect’s background to learn more about why he came to Washington,” they said.
In court, prosecutors said Le “has no roots” and had been living out of his truck for three weeks.
Kelvin Le, Le’s older brother, told the Los Angeles Times that the guillotine was probably intended as a “symbol of disapproval.”
His brother was not a fan of either major US political party and disliked both President Donald Trump, a Republican, and California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, he told the newspaper.
“I don’t think he’d hurt anyone,” he added.
An arrest warrant cited by the Post said Le told police he wasn’t in Washington “for any specific reason” and “didn’t have any issues with specific members of Congress.”
The Times of Israel Community.