Registered Sex Offender Armed With AR-15 Arrested Near Capitol Complex

Contrary to popular belief, the U.S. Capitol can be an exciting place. Besides riots, the Capitol Police contend with all manner of calls – like the serial-biter fox who haunted the grounds last spring.

They also contend with dangerous, sometimes deranged individuals. On Tuesday, a young man from the Atlanta area, armed with an AR-15, was arrested near the Capitol grounds.

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Atlanta Man Arrested Near Capitol

Just before Noon on Tuesday, U.S. Capitol Police announced they arrested a man “with a gun in the park across from Union Station.”

That area encompasses a few blocks nearest to the Senate Office Buildings.

The man who was arrested, identified as 21-year-old Ahmir Merrell of Atlanta, Georgia, reportedly possessed at least a rifle, which police told Fox News “looked like” an AR-15.

Via WSB-TV:

U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger says Ahmir Lavon Merrell, 21, was walking down the sidewalk across the street from Union Station with a gun. He was ordered to drop the gun, but did not, so officers Tased him.

Images shared by the Capitol Police show the gun to be an AR-type pistol with a stabilizing brace and a missing grip.

The sight of someone walking around with a gun would be quite unusual for the citizens and commuters of D.C. Police Chief Manger also told reporters that Merrell abandoned a bag on one of the park benches, prompting a bomb squad to clear the bag and the area.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Merrell’s legal problems haven’t just begun. He is currently on probation in Fulton County, Georgia, for a prior conviction for cruelty to children – a plea bargain on lower charges than his initial arrest for child molestation.

Video from the scene shows Merrell strapped to a gurney while being loaded into an ambulance.

This video from X appears to show the arrest from the point of view of a bystander:

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Capitol Violence

The Capitol area, broken up into multiple separate police jurisdictions, deals with its fair share of incidents. While the best known has been dubbed the Capitol Riot or the January 6 riot, a lesser, deadly incident a few months later received far less media attention.

In April of 2021, Officer Billy Evans was killed when suspect Noah Green rammed one of the barrier checkpoints on the Capitol grounds, hitting another officer who survived the attack.

After crashing, Green reportedly got out of the car with a knife and was shot by police. Green would later be eulogized by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrahkhan.

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