Flag-shop hero nabbed armed Hill intruder

A flag-shop worker, not the U.S. Capitol Police, first subdued an armed intruder in the Capitol this week, according to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-Miss.).

A flag-shop worker, not the U.S. Capitol Police, first subdued an armed intruder in the Capitol this week, according to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-Miss.).

“A guy who worked in the flag shop grabbed him,” Cochran said yesterday. “[The worker is] a big guy.”

Cochran said his staff told him the intruder was near the flag shop and “looked suspicious.”

The still-unidentified flag-shop worker “just assumed [the intruder] didn’t belong in the Capitol,” seized him and held him until Capitol Police arrived on the scene.

It was “an act of courage,” Cochran said.

The Architect of the Capitol’s office did not return several requests for comment.

During a press conference following the Monday incident, rumors flew about the possibility that someone other than the police had initially apprehended Carlos Greene, 20, who lead police on a four-floor chase around the Capitol after crashing his SUV on the East Front.

When asked whether officers apprehended Greene that day, Acting Chief Christopher McGaffin couched his answer to reporters, saying to his knowledge, “Capitol police apprehended Greene in the flag office” located on the basement floor of the Capitol.

The Capitol Police did not return multiple attempts for comment.

The criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court revelation makes no mention of the flag-shop employee.

The report, filed by Capitol Police Detective Nettie Watts, states that after being chased down a staircase into the basement level of the Capitol, “United States Capitol Police stopped the defendant and arrested him.”

Channing Phillips, spokesman for the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, said it is not uncommon for details to be left out of the initial criminal compliant.

“Many of the details will come out at the preliminary hearing,” Phillips said.

Greene is currently being held without bond at the D.C. Jail’s Correction Treatment Facility until Friday when the detention and preliminary hearings are scheduled.

The court document also describes how Greene entered the Capitol Visitor Center construction site after ramming into a Capitol Police cruiser, fleeing from the vehicle after crashing it into a concrete barrier and running into a construction entrance on the east side of the Rotunda.

Upon arresting Greene, officers allegedly found a Derringer .22 caliber handgun and a substance that tested positive for crack cocaine.

Several members of Congress have expressed disappointment and have called for the Capitol Police to investigate the incident thoroughly.

“The Speaker wants a complete review of what happened and for those who are accountable to be disciplined,” said Ron Bonjean, a spokesman for Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). “He also wants to be informed about their plans to never let this happen again.”