Man arrested with guillotine near Capitol told officers it was 'the real deal'

Nina Heller, CQ-Roll Call on Aug 27, 2026

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WASHINGTON — A man arrested near the Capitol with a 10-foot-tall guillotine in the bed of his truck was released Wednesday and charged with a misdemeanor.

Philan Tam Duy Le was arrested by Capitol Police on Tuesday after initially being approached for being parked illegally in a permit-only parking spot near the Library of Congress. According to an affidavit, officers spotted the guillotine and approached Le, who was sitting on the side of a platform attached to the truck.

Le then told officers that he “wasn’t there for any specific reason” and “didn’t have issues with specific members of Congress,” the affidavit states.

When asked by an officer if the guillotine was fully operational, Le said, “Yeah, it’s the real deal, man.”

According to the affidavit, an officer “tapped on the blade section of the guillotine and confirmed that it was metal, sharpened on an angle.” Officers asked Le if he had a concealed carry permit in his home state of California, which Le said he did. After being asked where the gun was, Le said it was “not here.” Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department were then called to do a gun dog sweep, which yielded negative results. A search for explosives by a Capitol Police K9 also yielded negative results.

Officers also observed that his truck was full of clothes, food debris and trash and had a makeshift bed in the passenger side, according to the affidavit. Prosecutors charged him with attempted possession of a prohibited weapon. His next hearing is scheduled for Sept. 24.

Capitol Police released images of the guillotine earlier this week, saying in a statement that investigators were “going through the suspect’s background to learn more about why he came to Washington, D.C.”

Both chambers of Congress are on recess this week, leaving the grounds quieter than usual. It comes after multiple other incidents this year involving weapons on Capitol grounds, including a man who was arrested last month for driving up to a barricade with a gun on his lap. The large guillotine found this week also evoked reminders of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, where protesters erected a makeshift gallows with a noose.