A Massachusetts man who traveled to the nation’s capital armed with crude Molotov cocktails and a knife as part of a plan to kill Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was sentenced to 73 months in federal prison, federal prosecutors announced.
Ryan Michael English, 26, of South Deerfield, Massachusetts, also known as “Raleigh Jane English,” received a prison term followed by three years of supervised release during a sentencing hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras.
English had previously pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful receipt, possession, and/or transfer of a firearm, as well as one count of carrying a firearm, dangerous weapon, explosive, or incendiary device on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol. Federal prosecutors had sought a sentence of 121 months.
“My office will not tolerate attempts to intimidate or harm public officials that strike at the heart of our democratic process and are antithetical to the values we all depend on,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a statement released alongside U.S. Capitol Police Chief Michael G. Sullivan. “The defendant is now a convicted felon and is headed where he belongs: prison.”
The charges stem from an incident on the afternoon of Jan. 27, 2025. According to court documents, English approached a U.S. Capitol Police officer near the South Door of the Capitol building at approximately 3:12 p.m. and said, “I’d like to turn myself in.” English then told the officer about possessing a knife and two Molotov cocktails.
Officers searched English and found a folding knife, a green lighter, and two small improvised incendiary devices inside his jacket pockets. Investigators described each device as a 50-milliliter Absolut vodka bottle fitted with a strip of grey cloth soaked in alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
During the search, English told police the target was a cabinet nominee scheduled for a Senate confirmation vote that day. Investigators also found a handwritten note in English’s pocket addressed to a roommate. The note 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.”
English admitted to investigators that the trip to Washington was intended either to kill a government official or to set fire to a local think tank.
A subsequent search of English’s car, parked on the 900 block of Independence Avenue SE, turned up a 750-milliliter bottle of 100-proof vodka and a grey sweatshirt with its sleeves cut off.
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