Police say man arrested near U.S. Capitol had guillotine in truckbed after driving cross-country from California
A California man is facing charges after the police discovered a 10-foot-tall guillotine in the bed of his pickup truck.
Philan-Tam-Duy Le, 35, told officers his wooden guillotine with a metal blade was “the real deal” when they asked if the device was fully functional. CNN reported that he was arrested shortly on Tuesday, August 25 after 3 PM and charged with carrying a dangerous weapon.
The police detained him on East Street, where his vehicle was illegally parked on a small road that runs adjacent to the Supreme Court, within walking distance of the Capitol building.
What were Philan-Tam-Duy Le’s motivations behind carrying the guillotine?
Le reportedly traveled from his home in Julian, California, to Washington, D.C. and investigators are now examining his background to determine what motivated his cross-country journey to the nation’s capital.
Per court documents, he told officers that he “wasn’t there for any specific reason” and “didn’t have issues with specific members of Congress.”
He pleaded not guilty Wednesday, August 26, during his initial court appearance and a status hearing is scheduled for September 24.
Upon probing, officials allegedly found an Instagram story posted Tuesday afternoon from an account appearing to belong to Le, showing a video of a man seated with the guillotine visible behind him
“Outside the FBI building, just eating some cheese pizza,” the man said. The caption read, “Guillotine adventures” and “Capital hill next.”
On the account, there were politically charged content and on August 12, the same man claimed he built the guillotine himself. In the video, he expressed frustration with “unelected officials making all the decisions” and “getting us involved in international conflicts and forever wars.”
The man also references so-called “people above” those officials, whose names “our government decided to redact.” He added, “I am not okay with not knowing who these people are and you shouldn’t be either.”
He described his actions as a response: “The last few months, however, I’ve been working on a solution. I built a guillotine. I’m gonna drive this f***** to Washington, DC.”
He insisted that the guillotine is “strictly for self-defense purposes” and that he harbors “no ill will or intentions of violence towards anyone.”
Le’s brother, Kevin, told the Los Angeles Times that the guillotine served as a “symbol of disapproval.” He described his brother as unhappy with both Democrats and Republicans. Moreover, the accused is also said to have a dislike for President Donald Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Regardless, Kevin does not believe his brother would actually harm someone and was surprised by the arrest.
Legal experts weigh in on Philan-Tam-Duy Le’s First Amendment protection
Last year, Capitol Police reported responding to nearly 15,000 threatening statements and behaviors directed at lawmakers and their families. The concerning figure marks a 57 percent increase from 2024.
So the guillotine incident arrives at a time when threats against members of Congress are escalating. CNN’s senior legal analyst Elie Honig said whether Le’s actions receive First Amendment protection “depends on specific factual circumstances.”
People have broad rights to aggressive or controversial speech but the deciding factor in Le’s case is whether “the object was operational or a symbol.”
Other components also determine the outcome, such as his intention to harm someone, how he displayed the guillotine and what he said about it.