Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent decided Thursday was a good day to remind everyone that somebody tried to kill him roughly two hours into his job. Which, if nothing else, has to be some kind of record for the shortest honeymoon period in Cabinet history.
Speaking at the State Department's Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism, Bessent shared detailed remarks about the January 2025 incident for the first time publicly, as Trending Politics reported. He had a pointed message for anyone in the room inclined to dismiss what happened.
"I'm going to remind everyone in this room — and all the media — that I was the subject of an assassination attempt by an addled left-wing activist two hours after being sworn into my job. Any of you who want to report that this is a fiction and does not exist, be there for the sentencing this August," Bessent said. That is an RSVP with teeth.
Bessent used the remarks to discuss the administration's broader push against financing political violence. He noted that the Treasury Department, at President Trump's direction, is expanding efforts to identify charities and nonprofits potentially serving as fronts for illicit finance tied to political terrorism. Tools like the Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network are being deployed in the review. Nothing says "we are serious" like unleashing acronyms.
The incident itself is genuinely chilling. According to a Department of Justice press release and court documents, Ryan Michael English, 24, of South Deerfield, Massachusetts (who also goes by Riley Jane English), walked up to a U.S. Capitol Police officer near the South Door of the Capitol Building on January 27, 2025, at approximately 3:12 p.m. and said, "I'd like to turn myself in." Officers found a folding knife, two improvised incendiary devices made from 50 milliliter vodka bottles with gray cloth wicks soaked in hand sanitizer, and a green lighter on his person.
English told officers he had traveled to Washington, D.C., intending to kill a government official or burn down a think tank. His original targets included then Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and the Heritage Foundation. He apparently changed course after stopping at a library in Chevy Chase, Maryland, where he saw coverage of Bessent's confirmation hearing and decided to pivot. Just casually picking a new assassination target based on what is trending at the public library.
English confessed he planned to throw the incendiary devices at Bessent's feet or stab him with the knife. He acknowledged he might have to kill officers to reach his target and that he could die in the process. A note found in his pocket read in part: "Dear god I am so sorry. You must understand I can feel myself dying slowly b/c of my heart. This is terrible but I cant do nothing while nazis kill my sisters. I love you. This is awful. Im so sorry. I love u."
Additional materials for making incendiary devices were found in his vehicle. English was charged with unlawful receipt, possession, and transfer of a firearm and carrying a dangerous weapon on Capitol grounds. On March 26, 2026, he pleaded guilty to both counts before U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras. Sentencing is scheduled for August 14 at 10 a.m. Eastern Time.
So for anyone keeping score, a man showed up to the Capitol with homemade firebombs and a knife, confessed to wanting to murder a Cabinet secretary who had been on the job for two hours, and some people still want to act like it did not happen. Bessent's invitation to attend the sentencing hearing is probably the politest way anyone has ever said "I told you so."
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