CAPITOL CARNAGE
1 cop slain, 1 hurt in ramming attack
A Nation of Islam devotee slammed his car into two Capitol Police officers — killing one — outside the US Capitol Friday afternoon before he was shot dead by police while running at them with a knife, officials said.
The mayhem erupted shortly after 1 p.m., sending the Capitol into lockdown and drawing a massive response from law enforcement and the National Guard less than three months after the Jan. 6 riot there left five — including Capitol Officer Brian Sicknick — dead.
The cop slain in Friday’s attack was identified by Capitol Police as Officer William “Billy” Evans, an 18-year veteran of the force and a member of its First Responders Unit.
The other cop wasn’t identified but was hospitalized “in stable and nonthreatening condition,” the Capitol Police tweeted early Friday evening.
The driver was identified by new outlets as Noah Green, 25, whose since-deleted Facebook page described him as a follower of the controversial Nation of Islam
leader Louis Farrakhan.
In a rambling March 17 message that he signed “Brother Noah X,” Green said he had been “on the right track” despite “experiencing an array of concerning symptoms along the path (I believe to be side effects of drugs I was intaking unknowingly).”
“However, the path has been thwarted, as Allah (God) has chosen me for other things.”
Green allegedly struck the two officers as he rammed the sedan into a pop-up barrier at a security checkpoint. He also stabbed one of the two cops before he was shot dead, two law-enforcement sources told The Associated Press.
Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman grew emotional as she revealed at a news conference that one of the cops had died.
“It is with a very, very heavy heart that I announce that one of our officers has succumbed to his injuries,” Pittman said.
“So I ask that you keep our US Capitol Police family in your thoughts and prayers.”
Pittman did not identify the slain cop at the press conference, saying officials had not yet notified his next of kin.
“This has been an extremely difficult time for US Capitol Police after the events of Jan. 6 and now the events that have occurred here today,” she said.
Acting Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee said the attack — which took place while Congress was in recess for the Easter holiday — “does not appear to be terrorismrelated but, obviously, we’ll continue to investigate to see along those lines.”
“We need to obviously understand the motivation behind this senseless act,” he said.
President Biden — who had left DC for Camp David when the attack occurred — said he and First
Lady Jill Biden “were heartbroken to learn of the violent attack” and added that he had ordered White House flags lowered to half-staff to honor Evans.
“I want to express the nation’s gratitude to the Capitol Police, the National Guard Immediate Response Force and others who quickly responded to this attack,” he added.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Evans’ “name will go down in history for his selfless sacrifice.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called Evans “heroic” and “a martyr for our democracy.”