Massachusetts Resident Sentenced to 73 Months in Capitol Assassination Attempt
Ryan Michael English was sentenced to prison following a guilty plea to weapons charges on U.S. Capitol grounds.
3 reports on this incident · first at Aug 18, 2026, 1:22 p.m. ET
Earlier reports
Aug 19, 2026, 9:22 p.m. ET
Massachusetts Resident Sentenced to 73 Months in Capitol Assassination Plot
On August 18, 2026, Riley English, listed in court records as Ryan Michael English, 24, of South Deerfield, Massachusetts, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 73 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, according to official records from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras imposed the sentence, which katc.com reported includes credit for nearly 20 months already spent in custody. Federal prosecutors had requested a sentence of 121 months.
English pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful receipt, possession, and/or transfer of a firearm and one count of carrying a firearm, dangerous weapon, explosive, or incendiary device on Capitol grounds, according to the official court record. Reporting from katc.com noted the conviction covered two weapons charges.
Official court documents state that on January 27, 2025, English approached a U.S. Capitol Police officer near the South Door of the Capitol Building and confessed to possessing a folding knife and two homemade Molotov cocktails constructed from 50-milliliter vodka bottles and alcohol-soaked wicks. English confessed to traveling to Washington to kill then-cabinet member nominee Scott Bessent on the day of his Senate confirmation. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro following an investigation by the U.S. Capitol Police.
Aug 18, 2026, 1:22 p.m. ETFirst report
Massachusetts Resident Sentenced to 73 Months for Capitol Assassination Attempt
On Aug. 18, 2026, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia announced that Ryan Michael English, 24, of South Deerfield, Massachusetts, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 73 months in prison and three years of supervised release. In the developing case, English, also known as "Raleigh Jane English," pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras to one count of unlawful receipt, possession, and/or transfer of a firearm and one count of carrying a firearm, dangerous weapon, explosive, or incendiary device on Capitol grounds. Federal prosecutors had requested a sentence of 121 months.
According to official court records, English approached a U.S. Capitol Police officer near the South Door of the Capitol Building at approximately 3:12 p.m. on Jan. 27, 2025, stating, "I'd like to turn myself in." Officers searched English and recovered a folding knife, a green lighter, and two improvised incendiary devices constructed from 50-milliliter Absolut vodka bottles topped with cloth soaked in alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Records state English confessed to being at the Capitol to kill then-cabinet member nominee Scott Bessent on the day of his Senate confirmation vote, and admitted to traveling to Washington, D.C., with the intent to kill a government official or burn down a local think-tank.
Official records report that officers also recovered a note in English's pocket addressed to a roommate that read in part, "This is terrible but I cant do nothing while nazis kill my sisters…Im so sorry for lying and plotting and lying." A subsequent search of English's car, parked on the 900 block of Independence Ave., SE, uncovered a 750-milliliter bottle of 100 proof vodka and a grey sweatshirt with cut sleeves. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro alongside Chief Michael G. Sullivan of the U.S. Capitol Police, following an investigation by the U.S. Capitol Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan M. Horan and Assistant U.S. Attorney Travis Wolf.
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Revision history
- Version 120 Aug 2026, 01:52current
First published.
- Version 118 Aug 2026, 17:22current
First published.
- Version 120 Aug 2026, 01:22current
First published.
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