Suspect identified in terrifying moments before Trump paid respects to Jimmy Carter

U.S. Capitol Police have identified a man arrested Wednesday after allegedly trying to set a car on fire as President-elect Donald Trump paid his respects to former President Jimmy Carter, who lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC

Police announced on Thursday morning that the suspect was Adrian J. Hinton, 35, of Virginia.

He faces unlawful activity charges after he placed a burning bag on a car near the Grant Monument around 5:30 p.m.

Authorities said the bag burned without igniting anything else.

CAPITOL POLICE ARRESTED MAN WHO ATTEMPTED TO STOP A CAR DURING TRUMP’S DC VISIT WITH GOP SENATORS

The US Capitol building surrounded by a fence in preparation for January 6, 2025. (Fox Digital News)

According to Capitol Police, it was filled with accelerant and Hinton’s vehicle was spray-painted.

Hinton’s arrest was one of two dangerous incidents that took place at the Capitol on Wednesday, as Trump, lawmakers and thousands of Americans lined up to pay their respects to Carter.

The police too detained a man who allegedly arrived at the Capitol about three hours earlier with an array of knives, including a machete, with which he tried to get through a security checkpoint using an X-ray machine at the Capitol Visitor Center.

Mel J. Horne, 44, faces multiple charges of carrying a dangerous weapon.

Police arrested a man after trying to bring a machete and three knives into the US capital, hours before Trump’s arrival

A collection of knives confiscated at the Capitol, including an al arge machete, sits on a conveyor belt

US Capitol Police stopped a man from entering the Capitol at a security checkpoint after he was found in possession of a machete and three knives in his bag. (US Capitol Police)

Capitol Police said they did not believe this information two events they were connected. No arrest interrupted Carter’s service.

“Today, our officers twice arrested a man who may have posed a threat to the Capitol community,” Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said in a statement. “This vigilance is crucial in times of increased security.”

Carter was scheduled to remain in state from 7:30 p.m. Tuesday until 7 a.m. Thursday.

A Boy Scout troop salutes as they pay their respects in front of a flag-draped casket during a lie-in-state ceremony honoring former President Jimmy Carter in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C., January 8, 2025. Carter, the 39th President of the United States, died at the age of 100 years old on December 29, 2024 at her home in Plains, Georgia. (SAMUEL CORUM/AFP via Getty Images)

The former president, who was the 39th man to hold the position, died on December 29 at the age of 100.

Carter, a Democrat, was a devout Christian who served in the Navy and was also governor of Georgia before his election to the White House.

His signature achievement may have been the Camp David Accords, which sought to stabilize the Middle East through an agreement that included Israel and Egypt. However, his inability to resolve the Iran hostage crisis likely cost him re-election.

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All five living presidents they were scheduled to attend his funeral Thursday morning, where outgoing President Joe Biden was scheduled to deliver a eulogy.

Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.