Deerfield woman detained following arrest at Capitol

The sun rises behind the U.S. Capitol Building, seen from Pennsylvania Avenue. KENT NISHIMURA/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS/FILE
Published: 01-30-2025 5:02 PM |
WASHINGTON – The Deerfield woman arrested at the U.S. Capitol this week for telling police she wanted to kill top Republicans conceded to detention on Thursday and a hearing is set for April 1, according to federal court documents.
A detention hearing was scheduled for Thursday afternoon but was not held, as Riley Jane English, a 24-year-old transgender woman originally identified in federal court documents as Ryan Michael English, conceded to detention after she was arrested at the U.S. Capitol building, where she allegedly told a Capitol Police officer she was planning to kill Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
She waived her written findings of fact and the federal government requested a speedy trial. Judge Matthew Sharbaugh granted the motion and set a preliminary hearing for April 1 at 1 p.m.
When she was arrested, English was allegedly carrying a folding knife and two 50-millliter bottles of vodka with a gray cloth affixed to the top, as well as a lighter, which she intended to be used as a Molotov cocktail, according to court documents. The 80 proof vodka, however, was not flammable, but a U.S. attorney argued it still met the criteria for a “destructive device.”
She was allegedly targeting Bessent, who was confirmed by the Senate Monday, as well as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson. She also allegedly wanted to burn down the offices of the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank, according to police.
In English’s motion for release, filed by federal public defender A.J. Kramer on Wednesday, she is described as a transgender woman “who has faced ridicule, discrimination, abuse and scorn from family and friends because of her identity.” English has no prior criminal history and has suffered several personal losses in recent years, according to Kramer’s motion.
“Since President Trump’s inauguration, Ms. English has been faced with a country and society who does not believe she should be recognized for who she is. She is forced to fear for her safety and ability to continue living as she is,” Kramer wrote. “Ms. English’s actions demonstrate she had no intent to injure but rather that she drove from her home in Massachusetts to the U.S. Capitol building as a cry for help.”
During her custodial interview with police on Jan. 27, of which excerpts were published in the government’s memorandum in support of pretrial detention, English allegedly told officers that she had a congenital heart defect and only had four months to live. She added she was inspired by Luigi Mangione, who allegedly shot and killed UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City in December, and the national fervor that came to a head in the weeks after Thompson’s death.
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“Maybe I told myself to have faith and just where this goes and I had been thinking about for this [sic] because of Luigi Mangione I have seen the response to that and that situation … It was not an everyday thing and it extremely shook up everything,” English allegedly told police, adding she originally believed Thompson’s killing accomplished “nothing.”
“As time went on, I started to understand things differently in my own personal situation,” the interview excerpt in the federal government’s memorandum in support of pretrial detention continued. “I have been talking to my friends very recently about, ‘Hey, I really believe it’s time to get out of the country and everything.’ The thought of violence didn’t occur to me until fairly recently and the thought of, ‘Holy [expletive], it’s me, it’s my role unfortunately.”
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 1 in Washington D.C.