By: Paul Goldberg — Senior Correspondent | LGBT Politics USA
WASHINGTON, D.C. — (August 18, 2026) — Ryan Michael English, a transgender Massachusetts defendant who admitted traveling to Washington with plans to attack senior Trump administration officials, has been sentenced to 73 months in federal prison in connection with a plot to assassinate Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
English, 24, of South Deerfield, Massachusetts, received the sentence in U.S. District Court in Washington after previously pleading guilty to two federal weapons charges stemming from the January 27, 2025 incident at the U.S. Capitol.
Now Trending on LGBTQ Politics News on JRL CHARTS:
• Democrats Blow Up the 2028 Presidential Map as DNC Rewrites Road to White House
• HRC Launches $15M Campaign to Defend LGBTQ+ Rights in 2026 Midterms
• America’s ‘Golden Age’? U.S. Job Growth Since January 2025 Tells a Different Story
• Watch: Anti-Trump “Had Enough?” Ad Sparks Political Firestorm in Election 2026
• Millions of Working Americans Are Going Hungry—and Nobody Is Talking About It
• Democrats Enter 2026 Midterms With Momentum — But LGBTQ Civil Rights Are Now on the Ballot
• Review More in LGBTQ Politics News Exclusively on JRL CHARTS
The sentence — equivalent to six years and one month — brings a dramatic conclusion to a federal case involving Molotov cocktails, a folding knife and an admitted plan that authorities say ultimately shifted toward Bessent on the day the U.S. Senate was preparing to vote on his nomination for Treasury secretary.
The U.S. Department of Justice confirmed the 73-month sentence Tuesday, describing the underlying case as an attempt to assassinate then-Cabinet nominee Scott Bessent at the U.S. Capitol.
English Surrenders to U.S. Capitol Police
The planned attack never took place.
According to federal prosecutors, English approached a U.S. Capitol Police officer near the South Door of the Capitol Building at approximately 3:12 p.m. on January 27, 2025, and announced an intention to surrender.
English also acknowledged possessing a knife and two Molotov cocktails.
Officers detained and searched English, recovering a folding knife and two improvised incendiary devices from inside the defendant’s jacket. Authorities said the devices had been constructed using 50-milliliter vodka bottles with cloth affixed to their tops.
Police also recovered a green lighter.
English had traveled from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C., with what authorities described as an intention to kill a government official or set fire to a Washington-based think tank.
Pete Hegseth and Mike Johnson Were Also Potential Targets
Bessent was reportedly not the only prominent political figure considered as a potential target.
According to court records and reporting surrounding the investigation, English had also contemplated targeting Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), along with setting fire to the conservative Heritage Foundation.
English’s attention apparently shifted to Bessent after learning while traveling to Washington that the Senate was scheduled to vote on Bessent’s nomination that day.
NBC4 Washington reported following the arrest that English told investigators about plans involving Bessent, Hegseth and Johnson, as well as the Heritage Foundation.
Once at the Capitol, however, English abandoned the planned violence and surrendered directly to law enforcement.
Police Discover Handwritten Note
Investigators also recovered a handwritten note addressed to English’s roommate.
The note expressed regret over the planned actions and referred to a belief that “nazis” were killing English’s “sisters.”
Federal investigators said English admitted traveling to Washington intending either to kill a government official or burn down a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.
English also told investigators about the plan to target Bessent, including potentially using the incendiary devices or a knife if able to get close enough to him.
No attack was ultimately carried out.
English Pleaded Guilty to Two Federal Charges
English pleaded guilty on March 26, 2026, before U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras to one count of unlawful receipt, possession and/or transfer of a firearm and one count of carrying a firearm, dangerous weapon, explosive or incendiary device on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol.
The Justice Department characterized those charges as related to the attempted assassination of Bessent.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro said following the guilty plea that threats against government officials cross a clear legal line and pledged that individuals threatening political violence would be prosecuted.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Capitol Police and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
The federal case is United States v. English, 25-cr-00134.
73-Month Federal Prison Sentence
Federal prosecutors announced Tuesday that English had been sentenced to 73 months in prison for the offenses.
In addition to the 73-month prison term, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras ordered English to serve three years of supervised release following incarceration. Federal prosecutors had sought a substantially longer sentence of 121 months in prison.
DOJ’s sentencing announcement described English’s actions as an attempt to assassinate Bessent using Molotov cocktails fashioned from vodka bottles while also carrying a folding knife onto Capitol grounds.
The sentence amounts to just over six years in federal prison.
It also closes a case that began with an extraordinary contradiction: English traveled hundreds of miles to Washington armed and contemplating political violence, yet ultimately approached law enforcement voluntarily and surrendered before carrying out the planned attack.
Scott Bessent Has Spoken Publicly About the Plot
Bessent has since publicly discussed being targeted.
During an appearance in Washington, D.C., Bessent referred to himself as the subject of an assassination attempt and connected the case to the broader national debate surrounding politically motivated violence.
The timeline contained in official government records, however, provides an important clarification.
English surrendered on January 27, 2025, while Bessent was still President Donald Trump’s nominee for Treasury secretary.
The Senate confirmed Bessent later that day.
Bessent was subsequently sworn in as the 79th Secretary of the Treasury, meaning the plot occurred while he was awaiting Senate confirmation rather than after he had formally assumed office.
That distinction does not diminish the seriousness of the admitted plot, but it provides a more precise chronology of one of the most unusual security incidents surrounding the beginning of Trump’s second administration.
Bessent Holds Historic Place as an Openly Gay Cabinet Official
The case also carries particular significance for LGBT political coverage because Bessent is openly gay and holds a historic position within the Trump administration.
His confirmation made him the first openly gay Senate-confirmed Cabinet member to serve in a Republican presidential administration and placed an openly gay official at the helm of one of the federal government’s most powerful departments.
The assassination plot therefore brought together several politically charged issues — threats against government officials, ideological violence, Capitol security and two figures whose LGBTQ identities have separately attracted public attention.
English’s transgender identity is not alleged by prosecutors to have caused or motivated the criminal conduct. Federal authorities have instead focused on English’s stated political motivations, weapons, intended targets and actions leading up to the surrender.
Political Violence Remains Under National Scrutiny
The sentencing arrives amid continuing concern over threats and acts of political violence directed at public officials across the ideological spectrum.
In English’s case, the planned attack ended before anyone was injured because the defendant surrendered directly to Capitol Police while still carrying the weapons and incendiary devices.
More than a year after that surrender, the guilty plea and 73-month federal prison sentence have turned an interrupted plan for political violence into a significant federal prosecution involving the U.S. Capitol and one of the nation’s highest-ranking Cabinet officials.
For Bessent, what began on the day of his Senate confirmation has also become part of his public account of the threats facing government officials in an increasingly volatile American political environment.
Stay with JRL CHARTS LGBT Politics USA for breaking political news, federal court developments and continuing coverage of LGBTQ figures shaping Washington and national politics.
