Sandy MaloneWashington, DC – Senior law enforcement officials said the man who murdered a U.S. Capitol Police officer and seriously wounded another with his car on Friday was a 25-year-old black nationalist originally from Indiana.
U.S. Capitol Police Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman said the incident occurred at about 1:02 p.m. on April 2 when a man drove his vehicle into a security barricade on the U.S. Senate side of the Capitol building, NBC News reported.
The police chief said that the driver struck two officers with his vehicle and rammed the barricade.
Then he jumped out of his car brandishing a knife at the officers, according to Chief Pittman.
Sources said the suspect had a knife with a very large blade, NBC News reported.
“Our officers then engaged that suspect,” she told reporters. “He did not respond to verbal commands. The suspect did start lunging toward U.S. Capitol Police officers, at which time, U.S. Capitol Police officers fired upon the suspect. At this time, the suspect has bene pronounced deceased.”
“Two U.S. Capitol Police officers were transported to two different hospitals, and it is with a very, very heavy heart that I announce one of our officers has succumbed to his injuries,” Chief Pittman announced with tears in her eyes.
The fallen hero has been identified as U.S. Capitol Police Officer William “Billy” Evans, an 18-year veteran of the Capitol Police force, the Daily Mail reported.
Another reminder that the men and women of law enforcement stand in the brink so that we can be safe. God bless our police. Never forget Capitol Police Officer Billy Evans. Rest In Peace brother. pic.twitter.com/Lnk12mFVPl
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) April 2, 2021
The wounded officer who hasn’t been identified remained in the hospital “fighting for his life,” according to President Joe Biden.
Details of his condition have not been released.
National Guard immediate reaction force troops rushed to the U.S. Capitol and had secured the complex by 2 p.m., WUSA reported.
National Guard hustling to Capitol right now@wusa9 pic.twitter.com/z35rv66K2I
— Zach Merchant (@ZachMerchantTV) April 2, 2021
The DC Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) was investigating both the attack on the officers and the officer-involved shooting, NBC News reported.
MPD Acting Chief Robert Contee initially said the incident “does not appear to be terrorism related.”
However, NBC News reported that four senior law enforcement officials who had been briefed on the incident said the driver of the vehicle that slammed into the Capitol Police officers guarding the barricade was Noah Green, who identified himself on his social media pages as a “Follower of Farrakhan.”
EXCLUSIVE: The man who rammed a car into Capitol Police, killing one, has been identified as Noah Green. Green was armed w/a large blade when he was shot dead. He identified as a follower of the black nationalist Nation of Islam movement.
FB has immediately deleted his profile. pic.twitter.com/erLNdob8ld
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) April 2, 2021
Noah Green, 25, has been identified as the Capitol Hill attacker, who killed a police officer and injured another. His Facebook page identifies him as a follower of Louis Farrakhan and a member of the radical group Nation of Islam. pic.twitter.com/7o9pbSixek
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) April 2, 2021
Law enforcement sources said Green had most recently lived in Norfolk, Virginia, NBC News reported.
On his Facebook page, which was deleted after the incident, Green professed himself to be a devout follower of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, a known anti-Semitist.
The Nation of Islam has been labeled an extremist hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and numerous other watchdog groups, according to NBC News.
The black nationalist religious organization grew in prominence through the 1960s when activist Malcolm X and boxer Muhammad Ali were members.
A post to Green’s Facebook page on March 17 said he was “unemployed after I left my job partly due to afflictions, but ultimately in search of a spiritual journey.”
Green went on to extoll the virtues of Farrakhan and profess his belief that the leader of the Nation of Islam was the “man who can carry us through the dark hour.”
He had also shared a picture of a certificate to “Noah X” from the Nation of Islam for making a $1,085.00 “Saviors Day Gift 2021.”
Green was not known to DC or Capitol Police but law enforcement sources told the Daily Mail that he had a criminal record in another state.
Congress is in spring recess this week so there were no lawmakers at the Capitol when the suspect attempted to breach the barrier, NBC News reported.
Holly Matkin