A bomb squad safely destroyed a pressure cooker found in a “suspicious” vehicle left unattended Sunday afternoon on the National Mall near the U.S. Capitol building and the vehicle’s owner was located and arrested, a U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman said.
Police Lt. Kimberly A. Schneider told The Associated Press that Capitol Police officers on routine patrol spotted the parked, unoccupied vehicle on a street on the mall west of the Capitol around 5 p.m. Sunday.
“Further investigation revealed a pressure cooker, and an odor of gasoline was detected,” Schneider said, adding a Capitol Police bomb squad was called in because the vehicle was deemed “suspicious in nature.”
She said the squad known as the Hazardous Devices Section destroyed “items of concern in the vehicle including the pressure cooker” at about 7:45 p.m. after temporarily closing off the area on the long Memorial Day holiday weekend. She did not immediately identify the other items but said only that “this safe disruption produced a loud ‘bang.’
Asked by AP if the “disruption” involved controlled detonation of the items, she said that was accurate. She also said that follow-up searching of the vehicle detected “nothing hazardous.” Her email said the suspicious vehicle was investigated during a Memorial Day Concert in Washington though it was unclear how many people were nearby at the time.
She said the bomb squad intervention came after authorities had set up a security perimeter around the site on 3rd Street in the nation’s capital. She said that street was temporarily closed between Independence Avenue and Constitution Avenue while authorities investigated.
After the pressure cooker was destroyed, she said, police conducted a thorough “hand search” of the vehicle and concluded their investigation by about 8:20 p.m. “with negative results and nothing hazardous found.”
Asked whether police had specifically identified any threat to public safety, Schneider told AP via email: “If we can’t determine whether or not an item is safe/dangerous, we’d have to treat it as dangerous until we determine otherwise. She added that was “why the items were safely disrupted, out of an abundance of caution.” She didn’t elaborate.
She added that the vehicle owner was located and her statement identified him as IsraelShimeles of the Washington suburb of Alexandria, Virginia. The statement said Shimeles was arrested by Capitol Police and charged with “Operating After Revocation” and that he was being processed Sunday evening at the police headquarters building.
It wasn’t immediately known if he had an attorney. Schneider didn’t elaborate on the charge.
Schneider also said the city’s Metropolitan Police, U.S. Park Police, the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force were assisting Capitol Police.
The FBI did not immediately return a call for comment late Sunday.
Authorities have noted that pressure cookers have been used in the past to create explosive devices. Three people were killed and more than 260 others wounded in April 2013 when two pressure-cooker bombs were set off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/police-bomb-squad-checks-suspicious-vehicle-capitol-31281168
Sounds like they blew up somebody’s car for no reason. I wonder what “Operating after Revocation” is supposed to mean?
it means driving without a license. But…. the car was parked. Was the owner driving it? Do they know that he drove it there? If there is nothing more to this story, then this is one of the most insane things I’ve heard lately. There are just enough details given to make this worthy of The Onion. (for instance…. what was it that made this car “suspicious?” Was it that the police looked in the window and saw a pressure cooker (probably to do with a weekend potluck picnic I’m guessing)? Or was there something else? Since nothing else apparently was found)
And the DC area has a large population of people from many countries, many of which regularly use pressure cookers for every day cooking. It is not an unusual thing. What the heck is this demonization of random cooking tools? I just don’t get it.
“What the heck is this demonization of random cooking tools? I just don’t get it.”
Not random, EE.
“Three people were killed and more than 260 others wounded in April 2013 when two pressure-cooker bombs were set off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.”
Fake, however.
But you already knew that. Rhetorical question?
yeah 🙂 I do that a lot I guess #1. 🙂
Most of the things I am interested in, get demonized or deemed suspicious. Kinda makes me wonder. What I mean is, I am not a newcomer to survival skills. It is just that it didn’t used to be called that. I just always liked doing things the old fashioned way (cooking, gardening, making things myself, being self sufficient). So…. all of that is being demonized in a really bad way. I’ve noticed, and it’s absurd and disturbing. Normal human activities that have been normal since the beginning of time, are now looked upon with suspicion.
BTW I have a lot of sleeping sheep family and friends (we live very close to DC) and ALL of them think there is something weird about this pressure cooker incident. None of them think the police made a reasonable assumption. None of them are scared or think this guy was a terrorist. These folks are more worried about the police now, than terrorism.
Why are our police doing such truly bizarre (and provocative and dangerous) things these days? Are they all brainwashed robots? I mean seriously — are they not human? Is there no reasonable person among them? (kind of rhetorical but truly wondering…)
Show them this article, EE.
Unfreakinbelievable!!!
http://www.fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/cops-arrive-hours-late-to-911-call-shoot-dog/133543#comment-885886
I will. Thanks #1.
I am just wondering, what is UP with the police. The way they are operating these days, the only possible result will be that more and more people wake up quickly.
So I’m wondering, are TPTB “ready” for us all to wake up? Seems that way. So…. what’s next?
What is the point of causing the majority of the population to be aware that the police no longer serve and protect?
“So…. what’s next?”
Revolution/restoration.
Only option left.
Thanks EE I thought that’s what it meant but wasn’t sure. I was pretty sure they blew up somebody’s car for no reason..lol.
Thank God! I just feel so much safer now.
“Israel” really?
When they go after my deep fryer is when I’ll have had enough.
“She said the squad known as the Hazardous Devices Section destroyed “items of concern in the vehicle including the pressure cooker” at about 7:45 p.m. after temporarily closing off the area…”
The solution is obvious.
Ban all “items of concern”.
IRANNNNNNNNNN DID IT!!!!!!!
Food was splattered everywhere!
Man arrested for possession of bomb making materials. Yes people, our brave and unwavering law enforcement officers used their specialized training to detect and dispose of that highly dangerous pressure cooker before it went off and splattered Chow Mein over innocent civilians! It reminds me of the time, as a young lad, I was hypnotized by that dancing pressure release so I took it off to give it closer examination. Not a good idea. By the time all the pressure released, my mother’s exhaust hood over the stove was plastered with Chow Mein. She was not happy!
So the latest is that the guy is the owner of a food truck, and that was merely his cooking equipment. He apologizes for not considering more carefully, the contents of his vehicle being in plain view so close to the National Mall. He admits his actions were “stupid” and apologizes for inconveniencing people.
WTOP reports there was nothing hazardous found in his car, and they also say that the charge of “operating after revocation” is not clear if it is related to a driving permit or some other type of permit.
Once again, WTOP news helpfully reminds us that two pressure cooker bombs injured 260 people and killed three others when the devices detonated at the finish line of the boston Marathon in 2013.