Officers arrest man trying to enter Capitol with a hammer, US Capitol Police says

An Ohio man was arrested on Friday afternoon while trying to enter the US Capitol with a hammer, US Capitol Police said in a news release.

Christopher Snow, 33, of Canton, Ohio, “became combative” after a USCP officer spotted the hammer in his backpack as it went through an x-ray machine at the Capitol Visitor Center, according to the release.

He has been charged with assault on a police officer, USCP said. It is unclear whether Snow has legal representation.

Snow attempted to grab his backpack after the officer tried to look inside the bag for a secondary screening, police said. Several officers stepped in to stop him, and a struggle broke out, with police deploying a Taser to take Snow into custody.

Investigators are looking into why Snow came to the Capitol with a hammer, police said.

“These officers did what they were trained to do and stopped this man from getting into the U.S. Capitol,” USCP Captain Andrew Pecher said in the statement. “Great work from the officer who spotted the hammer, to the officers who quickly took the suspect into custody.”