Capitol Police: Man with bayonet, machete arrested outside DNC headquarters

U.S. Capitol Police on Monday arrested a man who they say had multiple knives inside his truck outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters.

Donald Craighead, 44, of Oceanside, California, was arrested after a patrol officer saw him in a Dodge Dakota pickup truck without a license plate outside the DNC headquarters several blocks from the Capitol around midnight.

There was an American flag where the license plate should have been, as well as a swastika and other White supremacist symbols painted on the truck’s body, police said.

The officers pulled him over on the 500 block of South Capitol Street SW and saw a bayonet and machete inside his truck. He was arrested and charged with possession of prohibited weapons.

Mr. Craighead reportedly told the officers that he was “on patrol” and talked about White supremacist ideology and rhetoric.

Authorities say they are investigating the incident and that it is unclear if he was planning to attend any upcoming demonstrations.

The news comes as police are preparing for the “Justice for J6” rally on Saturday near the Capitol, where attendees are planning to demand “justice” for the hundreds of people accused of breaching the building during the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.

Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said “this is good police work, plain and simple.”

“We applaud the officers’ keen observation and the teamwork that resulted in this arrest,” Chief Manger said in a statement Monday.