The 71-year-old man who was arrested outside the Rayburn House Office Building near the U.S. Capitol has been identified.
Dennis Westover, of South Charleston, West Virginia, was arrested on several charges, including possession of unregistered ammunition and unlawful possession of a firearm, on Wednesday by U.S. Capitol Police, according to a public incident report obtained by The Daily Beast. Police found a 9mm black Sig Sauer and 20 rounds of 9mm ammunition, the report states.
Police say he was parked in the middle of an intersection at 2nd Street and Washington Avenue Southwest when a U.S. Capitol Police officer approached him.
Westover is a Trump fan and avid supporter of ‘Stop the Steal”. He was reportedly at the Jan. 6 rally in D.C. that led to the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol and was photographed at another ‘Stop the Steal’ protest in West Virginia, days later.
Westover is also a COVID denier who downplayed the severity of the virus on Facebook.
On Nov. 29 he wrote, “NOT SAYING Covid ISN’T A SERIES FLU…BUT ITS NUMBERS AND ITS GRAVITY ARE ‘COOKED’!!”Can you say George Orwell,…‘1984’…‘Group Think’…?”Big Brother is covidizing (CONDITIONING)…The ‘sheeple’ to be compliant. WEAR YOUR MASK, STAY APART, DO AS YOU ARE TOLD…”
His post also included a meme questioning the effectiveness of lockdown measures to mitigate the spread of the virus.
In another post, he urged people to “Strip off the bondage of the masks, and once again fill the churches and worship god.”
