U.S. Capitol Police on Tuesday detained a man in a suspicious SUV parked outside the Supreme Court.
"One of our teams just moved in and extracted the man from the SUV. The man is in custody. Everyone is safe," Capitol Police tweeted.
According to a Capitol Police press release, the man, identified as Dale Paul Melvin, 55, of Kimball, Michigan, was arrested on charges of failure to obey and assault on a police officer.
Police were notified at about 9:30 a.m. Eastern time that Melvin's SUV, a Chevrolet Tahoe, was parked illegally outside the Supreme Court building. When officers approached the vehicle, Melvin refused to talk. But according to Deputy Chief Jason Bell, Melvin said something to the effect of "the time for talking is done."
Officers backed off after Melvin made the comment, a CNBC report states. Soon after, police began closing down the streets and sent a negotiator to talk to Melvin. Still, Melvin didn't cooperate. Eventually, officers set off a flash-bang grenade to draw Melvin out.
The event came on the second day of the Supreme Court's new term. The justices' hearing began at 10 a.m. as planned.
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