Man with assault rifle arrested at Trump hotel

Washington, June 1 (IANS) A man with an assault rifle and automatic pistol in his car has been arrested at US President Donald Trump's namesake hotel here, averting a "potential disaster", officials s

Washington, June 1 (IANS) A man with an assault rifle and automatic pistol in his car has been arrested at US President Donald Trump’s namesake hotel here, averting a “potential disaster”, officials said.

“I was very concerned about this circumstance and I believe the officers and our federal partners, and in particular the tipster, averted a potential disaster here in our nation’s capital,” District of Columbia police chief Peter Newsham said at a press conference on Wednesday, Efe news reported.

Police officers acted after receiving a call from a tipster, who said that the man — identified as Pennsylvania physician Bryan Moles — was driving to the Trump hotel with an assault rifle and ammunition.

Police intercepted Moles and saw a Bushmaster AR-15 assault rifle in plain view inside his vehicle, later finding a Glock 23 pistol in the glove compartment along with, reportedly, about 90 rounds of ammunition.

According to the authorities, Moles, 43, is an emergency room physician living in Ediboro, Pennsylvania. Police arrested him in his hotel room and charged him with possessing weapons without a license and unregistered ammunition.

Newsham confirmed that the tip had come from a Pennsylvania security agency, which warned that Moles had made threatening statements, although he did not provide any further details.

The Trump International Hotel is located on heavily-travelled Pennsylvania Avenue.

Trump inaugurated the hotel last year when he was a Republican candidate for the White House, just a few days before the November election, in which he defeated his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

This is published unedited from the IANS feed.