WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� A Massachusetts woman who told police that she went to the U.S. Capitol to kill members of President Donald Trump's cabinet said she was influenced by , the man charged with fatally shooting the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, prosecutors said in .
Ryan Michael English, who goes by Riley English, was arrested Monday and remained in custody after her initial court appearance on Thursday. English didn't immediately challenge her pretrial detention, court records show.
English, 24, of South Deerfield, Massachusetts, told police that she felt like she was 鈥渙n a mission鈥� and 鈥渉ad been thinking about for this for a while because of Luigi Mangione,鈥� prosecutors said. Mangione in December to state murder and terror charges in a Manhattan court.
鈥淚 pushed that away because I was thinking like that is so stupid, that accomplishes nothing, that poor kid just threw his life away for like a minute of vengeance,鈥� English said, according to prosecutors.
English was arrested on weapons charges after she approached police at the Capitol and said she came there to kill billionaire investor on the day that the Senate confirmed the South Carolina resident as Trump's treasury secretary, according to .
Investigators said they found a folding knife, two homemade firebombs and a lighter in English鈥檚 possession.
English also said she traveled from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C., intending to kill other Republican political figures 鈥� Defense Secretary and House Speaker 鈥� and to burn down the , a conservative think tank, according to police. English changed her target to Bessent after reading an internet post about his confirmation hearing, police said.
English told officers that she was terminally ill and 鈥渨anted to do something before I go,鈥� according to prosecutors.
鈥淭he criminal conduct for which she is before the Court is not a momentary lapse in judgment; rather, it was a premeditated and calculated attempt to commit violence,鈥� they wrote.
Defense attorney Maria Jacob said English only went to the Capitol 鈥渁s a cry for help鈥� and didn't intend to harm anybody.
鈥淪he was not aggressive when she approached the Capitol Police Officers. She never brandished any of the items as weapons and assisted police to retrieve the items on her person immediately,鈥� .
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Michael Kunzelman, The Associated Press
