Man arrested with guillotine near Capitol told police weapon was ‘the real deal’

The man who was arrested Tuesday for driving with a guillotine near the U.S. Capitol told police officers the weapon was “the real deal,” according to his arrest affidavit.

The affidavit, filed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, said U.S. Capitol Police officers Sergei Vittone, Ryerson Hill and Joseph Diaz observed a black Toyota Tacoma illegally parked on the south side of unit block East Capitol Street SE.

The truck was parked in a Library of Congress permit parking only spot, per the affidavit, with the Capitol Police noting in a Tuesday statement the vehicle was near the Capitol, the Supreme Court and the library.

“On the back of the truck was a wooden platform with an approximately 10 ft tall wooden guillotine with what appeared to be a metal blade,” read the affidavit, which Vittone signed Tuesday.

When Hill asked the man, identified as 35-year-old Philan-Tam-Duy Le, if the guillotine was fully functioning, he replied, “Yeah, it’s the real deal man.”

After tapping on the blade section of the guillotine, Hill confirmed it was metal and sharpened on an angle, the affidavit stated.

The suspect was arrested on one count of carrying a dangerous weapon, the Capitol Police said Tuesday. Le, from Julian, Calif. — a town located roughly 60 miles northeast of San Diego — drove to Washington, D.C., from California, according to the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP).

“USCP investigators are going through the suspect’s background to learn more about why he came to Washington, DC,” the police department added.

During questioning by Vittone and Hill before he was arrested, Le told the officers he was not near the Capitol “for any specific reason” and “didn’t have issues with specific members of Congress,” according to the affidavit.

The man also told officers he had a concealed carry permit for California, owned a Springfield XD-M handgun and “trained regularly.” When Diaz asked him where the gun was, the suspect replied, “Oh, it’s not here.”

A gun dog sweep of the man’s truck yielded negative results, the affidavit noted. Authorities also did not find any warrants for Le’s arrests during a review of the Washington Area Law Enforcement System and the FBI’s National Crime Information Center .

While federal prosecutors argued Wednesday that Le should be kept in the D.C. Department of Corrections’s Central Cell Block near the National Mall, Magistrate Judge Robert Hildum of the D.C. Superior Court ordered authorities to release the man ahead of his next hearing.

“He didn’t even threaten anyone,” Hildum said during the arraignment hearing, according to The Washington Post .

Authorities towed Le’s truck to a processing facility in southeast D.C., the affidavit noted.