WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) — Three men were arrested in two separate incidents near the White House Saturday — one on charges of carrying a gun while wearing a mask and two charged with defacing the FBI building and a nearby Trump hotel.
Two men participating in the Million Mask March were taken in to custody after Washington, D.C., police found several buildings and sidewalks vandalized with spray paint including the Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters and a hotel owned by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, the White House was on lockdown briefly after a Secret Service agent saw a man walking nearby with a holstered gun and wearing a mask. He was arrested after a scuffle, NBC4 reported. It is unclear if the armed man was associated with the Million Mask March.
The Secret Service said the man was charged with carrying a firearm without a license, along with unregistered ammunition, for resisting arrest and committing a crime while wearing a mask, the Washington Post reported. His name has not been released.
The vandalism arrests came after authorities found a neon green “X” covering the FBI emblem on its building and the word “corrupt,” along with images of masks spray-painted nearby and on a column of the FBI building.
Vandalism at the Trump hotel included spray-painted words “We Suck” near the entrance. The front doors had scratch marks on them, police said.
Police identified the two arrested as Eric Roberts, 27, of Florida, and 35-year-old Danny Hamilton, of Louisiana. Roberts was charged with defacing government property at the FBI Building. Hamilton was charged with destruction of government property and for damaging a police cruiser. Both were charged with resisting arrest.
The Million Mask March is an annual anti-capitalist demonstration with protesters from around the world wearing Guy Fawkes masks.
