A 31-year-old man was arrested at the Capitol checkpoint for carrying ‘false’ credentials and 500 ammo rounds.
Wesley Allen Beeler from Virginia was detained by Capitol Police as he tried to enter the restricted area ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
According to court documents, he had approached the security checkpoint and showed ‘invalid inauguration documents.’
Capitol Police also found more than 500 rounds of ammunition and a loaded pistol inside Beeler’s vehicle.
He was then arrested and charged with unlawful possession of ammunition and possession of an unregistered firearm.
After his release, Beeler said that the situation was “an honest mistake” and explained that he was working as a security guard in the area.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Beeler said: “I pulled up to a checkpoint after getting lost in DC because I’m a country boy. I showed them the inauguration badge that was given to me.”
He said that he had been hired by security company MVP Protective Services to guard “media equipment” and had previously accessed the area with the badge without any problem.
“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.”
His brother Clint Beeler also told Daily Mail: “I believe there’s 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?”
Beeler’s wife Noelle told the Washington Post that the actions of the officers were “understandable during these times.”
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Replaced!