A US capital officer died, and another was severely injured after a vehicle rammed through security and crashed into a barrier at the Washington complex. This is a second major attack on Capitol Hill after the January storming of Congress by supporters of then-president Donald Trump.

The other security staff who was injured is in stable and non-threatening condition.

Police identified the slain officer as William “Billy” Evans, an 18-year veteran of the force and father of two children.
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The driver of the car was shot dead after he jumped out and tried to attack the security staff with a knife.

The incident forced Capitol Hill into lockdown less than three months after a mob assault on Congress.

The assailant has been identified as Noah Green, a 25-year-old Black man from Indiana. According to media reports, he was a follower of Black nationalist Nation of Islam movement, lead by Louis Farrakhan, who promotes black nationalism, and anti-white thinking.

According to his Facebook posts, he was unemployed and had health problems. Moreover, international media reported that his posts in March hinted at a certain degree of paranoia. In one such post, he talked about being subjected to “mind control” and being tormented by the FBI and CIA. He also called the government “the #1 enemy of Black people!”.

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. “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.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Evans a ‘martyr of democracy’ and ordered flags lowered to half-staff on the Capitol.

Meanwhile, Facebook said it had removed Green’s account from the social network as well as Instagram, and it would tak down any content that ‘praises, supports, or represents’ the attack or the suspect.

It is to be noted that in January hundreds of supporters of then-president Donald Trump stormed Capitol hill. The violence resulted as the supporters of =Donald Trump entered the building in anger over his election defeat.

More than 300 people have been charged in the January attack, including members of armed extremist groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. One Capitol Police officer died as a result of the attack, as well as four other individuals who took part.