Wesley Allen Beeler Front Royal, Virginia man hired out by private security firm arrested attempting to enter DC checkpoint carrying 500 ammo rounds & fake Biden credentials claims it was all a major misunderstanding.
The United States on edge. A heavily armed man who was arrested after trying to enter a Washington, D.C. security checkpoint with 500 ammo rounds in the back of a truck along with ‘false’ credentials, has insisted the ‘incident’ is a ‘misunderstanding.’
Wesley Allen Beeler, 31, from Front Royal, Virginia was arrested by Capitol Police Friday evening as he tried to make his way through a restricted area in downtown DC that has been blocked off ahead of Joe Biden‘s inauguration.
Court documents say Beeler had approached the checkpoint on North Capitol and E Street NE around 6.30pm and presented cops with an invalid inauguration credential.
Officers later found a loaded pistol in plain sight and more than 500 rounds of ammunition inside his vehicle. He was arrested on charges including possession of an unregistered firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition, according to a police report.
Beeler spoke out following his release on Saturday on a personal recognizance, claiming the situation was an ‘honest mistake’ and said he had been running late to his job as a security guard in the area.
We spoke to Wesley Beeler about his arrest for showing up to a Capitol checkpoint with firearms and ammunition. This is his account @fox5dc #Capitol #WesleyAllenBeeler pic.twitter.com/mFtcyEtRVP
— Nick Petrillo (@nicknewsdc) January 17, 2021
A major misunderstanding?
‘I pulled up to a checkpoint after getting lost in DC because I’m a country boy,’ he told the Washington Post. ‘I showed them the inauguration badge that was given to me.’
The man’s brother Clint Beeler confirmed his story, telling the dailymail he believes there has been ‘a major misunderstanding.’
‘I believe someone forgot to put him in the system to be authorized in. He gave them the badge that was given to him. How can it be “false credentials”, when it was what they gave him?’ he added.
Police in a statement on Saturday said Beeler had turned over a ‘non-government issued’ credential and wasn’t authorized to enter the area.
Beeler told the Post he had been hired by security firm MVP Protective Services to guard ‘media equipment’ near 7th and Constitution and had previously accessed the area with his badge.
He said he had worked other security jobs in the area in the past as well. A spokesperson for Allied Universal Security Services confirmed this in a statement to the paper.
Beeler said he had driven up from Virginia, where he is licensed to carry, in his Ford F-150 and had forgotten to remove his weapons before leaving to work. He admitted to being armed with a loaded gun and shotgun shells but denied he was carrying 500 ammo rounds as police claimed.
Police say they observed “several firearm-related decals on the rear windshield” of Wesley Allen Beeler’s white pick up truck:
“‘Assault Life’ with a picture of a rifle.”
“If they come for your guns Give ‘Em your bullets first.”
509 9MM rounds were “hollow point.”: DC Court Docs. https://t.co/udHN24SPWD— Shomari Stone (@shomaristone) January 16, 2021
‘If they come for your guns, give ’em your bullets first.’
‘It was just me forgetting to take it out of my truck before I left for work. I don’t know what the D.C. laws are. It still comes back on me, but I’m not a criminal,’ Beeler added. ‘I don’t want my kids to think I’m a bad person.’
The episode comes as the nation remains on edge, one week after the Capitol became the site of a violent siege that left five dead.
Unprecedented levels of protection have been set up around the Capitol in the wake of the attack to prevent a possible invasion on inauguration day.
According to documents, police officers had been checking Beeler’s credentials against the authorized access list, when one of them noticed decals on the back of his pick-up truck that said ‘Assault Life,’ with an image of a rifle.
There was also another with the message: ‘If they come for your guns, give ’em your bullets first.’
When asked if he was carrying any weapons, Beeler told officers he had a Glock handgun in in the armrest.
The US under potential siege: ‘major security threats’
A search uncovered the loaded handgun, more than 500 rounds of ammunition, shotgun shells and a magazine for the gun, the court document said.
While Beeler and his family maintain he had no ill intentions, his wife acknowledged police officers’ actions were reasonable given recent events at the Capitol.
‘It’s understandable during these times. It does sound suspicious,’ Noelle Beeler told the Post.
The incident Capitol comes amid concerns of ‘major security threats’ at Biden’s inauguration on January 20.
Washington DC has gone into lockdown and several blocks around the Capitol have been cordoned off to prevent a repeat of the January 6, Capitol riot.
Law enforcement officials across the country have been working to locate and arrest suspects who committed federal crimes and so far have brought nearly 100 cases in federal court and the District of Columbia Superior Court.
Donald Trump was impeached for the second time this week after House lawmakers voted that he had ‘incited the riot’.
