October 6, 2025
A man broke into the Washington State Capitol's Legislative Building on Sunday night, knocked over the giant bronze bust of George Washington, and burned state and county flags.
The crime was not politically motivated, a spokesperson for the state patrol said, and [name] was in the middle of a mental health crisis.
[Name] parked a car on a flower bed in the flag circle in front of the historic Legislative Building, where the state Senate and House meet during session, on Sunday night at 10:15 p.m. Thirty seconds later, troopers began to arrive and were looking for the driver of the vehicle when alarms went off inside the Legislative Building.
[Name], who had two hammers, broke in through the ground floor office window and went upstairs, smashing card readers and hand sanitizers on the wall. The Department of Enterprise Services shared photos of burned and knocked-down state and county flags.
When he got to the Rotunda on the main floor, he knocked over a statue of Martin Luther King, Jr. and toppled a giant bronze bust of George Washington. There were cracks on the marble floor on Monday, a spokesperson for Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck told [news source].
[Name] then lit a fire in the State Reception Room, a "particularly important space," Washington Governor Bob Ferguson wrote on X.
Three troopers were on scene looking for the suspect when they heard breaking glass and saw [name] leaving the building. They took him into custody without incident.
"The entire incident lasted approximately 10 minutes from first call to capture. Unfortunately, this is a very large space, and the suspect was able to do significant damage before capture."
Found on Mainstream News