Capitol Police seize guillotine from pickup truck

U.S. Capitol Police on Tuesday arrested a man after discovering a guillotine in the bed of a pickup truck parked on the eastern edge of the National Mall.

Officers first spotted an illegally parked pickup truck along the 100 block of East Capitol St. —near the Capitol building, the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress, the department said in a statement . It was there they also found a multi-foot tall guillotine, shown in pictures shared by Capitol Police.

The guillotine was seized and officers arrested Philan-Tam-Duy Le, 35, of Julian, Calif. — a town located about 60 miles northeast of San Diego. Le faces one count of carrying a dangerous weapon.

Capitol Police investigators “are going through the suspect’s background to learn more about why he came to Washington, D.C.”

Guillotines were fashioned as the primary method of execution during the French Revolution in the late 1790s. During the “Reign of Terror,” the weapon was used to kill thousands — including French nobles, King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

France continued to use the device into the 20th century, as late as 1977, before the country outlawed capital punishment four years later.