Capitol Police Revise Details On Intruder
3 Flag Office Civilians Grabbed Armed Man

By Mary Beth Sheridan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 22, 2006

Contradicting earlier reports, officials said yesterday that an armed man who raced into the U.S. Capitol this week was stopped by employees of the Flag Office -- not by Capitol Police officers.

The episode exposed gaps in security of the Capitol building and grounds, and legislators are expected to meet Tuesday to grill U.S. Capitol Police about what went wrong. The suspect, Carlos Greene, 20, who was described as high on drugs, drove through a construction entrance partially blocked by a Capitol Police vehicle at 7:45 a.m. Monday and smashed into a concrete wall. He jumped from his vehicle and dashed into the domed building, outrunning police in a wild, four-story chase.

At a news conference Monday, Acting Capitol Police Chief Christopher M. McGaffin said his officers had subdued Greene in a basement office used to fill orders for flags that have flown over the Capitol. But yesterday, McGaffin acknowledged that three employees in the Flag Office had actually "confronted the individual."

"There was a struggle they participated in, in preventing this individual from getting any farther," McGaffin said in a telephone interview. The scuffle, he said, provided "the few precious seconds we needed to catch up with this suspect."

Police found a pistol in Greene's waistband after he was arrested. No one was harmed in the incident.

McGaffin said he did not have details about how the scuffle progressed.

However, other law enforcement and congressional sources gave this account: Greene burst into the Flag Office and grabbed the supervisor, Karen Livingston, demanding to know how he could get out. She broke away and a burly male co-worker corralled the intruder.

Capitol Police arrived seconds later and made the arrest. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to provide details on the investigation.

Asked why he had provided the incorrect information at his Monday news conference, nine hours after the incident, McGaffin said he was unaware at the time that anyone but Capitol Police officers took part in the arrest. The officers had not mentioned the civilians' role in their report, he said.

Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.), who chairs the subcommittee that funds the Capitol Police, yesterday identified the Flag Office employees who stopped the intruder as Livingston, the supervisor; Dennis Anthony, the assistant supervisor; and Isaac Livingston, a clerk who is not related to the supervisor.

They "did a great job in bringing him under control," Allard said. Their role was first reported by the Hill newspaper.

The three employees were barred from talking publicly about their actions because of the Capitol Police investigation, said Cynthia Snyder of the Architect of the Capitol's office, which oversees the Flag Office.

Legislators have expressed shock and anger that Greene managed to get so far into the Capitol.

"It's very serious," Allard said. "You can just assume that terrorists somewhere are taking note."

Congress has given the Capitol Police hundreds of millions of dollars for new equipment and additional officers since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The force now has more than 1,600 officers.

The House Appropriations Committee is expected to meet Tuesday to review how the Capitol Police handled the incident, officials said.

"Frankly, I think it's a bit outrageous that this kind of incident could take place with all of the new police personnel and all of the money we have spent," Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.), a committee member, said in a telephone interview. "Obviously, somebody on the front line was simply not paying attention."

Ron Bonjean, a spokesman for House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), said he was "extremely concerned" and "wants a report about how this will never happen again."

The Capitol Police are being assisted by "national security agencies" in their investigation, Allard said yesterday. McGaffin said he had requested the agencies' assistance "so we can have an independent assessment" of the incident. He declined to identify them, but another official said the U.S. Secret Service was involved.

McGaffin has blamed the security breakdown on human error, rather than funding or equipment. He declined to specify what went wrong until an internal review is finished.

He acknowledged that the intruder made it through two key points: the entrance on the perimeter of the Capitol and the door into the building, which was not locked or guarded. That door was being used by construction workers who have been trying to finish the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center that is under construction on the east side of the building.

Since the incident, security has been increased, with added police posts around the Capitol and concrete barriers placed in front of the construction entrance on First Street and Maryland Avenue NE used by the intruder.

Greene, of Silver Spring, has been jailed since his arrest. He is scheduled to appear in court today on a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.