Riley Jane English, 25, was sentenced to 63 months in prison Tuesday for a plot to kill Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
English, of South Deerfield, Mass., pleaded guilty on March 26 before US District Judge Rudolph Contreras to unlawful receipt, possession or transfer of a firearm, and carrying a firearm, dangerous weapon, explosive or incendiary device on the grounds of the US Capitol. Prosecutors led by US Attorney Jeanine Pirro had sought 121 months of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release.
“I was going to kill Scott Bessent,” English told police, who repeated the question back, asking, “Kill Scott Bessent?”
English told investigators that the original targets included House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and that English had also considered burning down the Heritage Foundation, according to court filings. The target shifted to Bessent after English saw him on television while stopping at a library in the Washington area. English told police that a clip of Bessent discussing the federal minimum wage had sparked anger.
“He said it with a smile on his face and that got under my skin,” English told investigators, according to court records.
English, who was inspired by Luigi Mangione, “had been thinking about this for a while because of Luigi Mangione,” according to a statement to police, prosecutors said.
English traveled from Massachusetts to the Washington area on Jan. 27, intending to kill a government official or burn down a Washington think tank, the Justice Department said. That same day, Bessent was being confirmed by the Senate as President Trump’s Treasury secretary.
At about 3:12 p.m. ET on Jan. 27, English approached a US Capitol Police officer near the South Door of the Capitol and said, “I’d like to turn myself in,” English told the officer about a knife and two Molotov cocktails. Police found a folding knife, two 50-milliliter Absolut vodka bottles with gray cloth attached to the tops and a lighter, according to court records. Investigators later found additional vodka and material matching the cloth used in the incendiary devices inside English’s vehicle.
English said she went to the Capitol intending to wait for Bessent but abandoned the plan after seeing the security presence and realizing other people could be harmed. Police recovered a handwritten note in which English wrote, in part, “This is terrible but I cant do nothing while nazis kill my sisters,” according to the Justice Department. “Im so sorry for lying and plotting and lying.”
English had second thoughts because Mangione was facing the law.
“I 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,” English said, according to prosecutors.
In the viral moment that preceded the sentencing, English admitted to police, “If all else fails, I was going to slit my wrists on the White House steps.”
“Just because that’s all you can do if you can’t hurt anyone else and you’re out of options and you’re out of time and you need to have an outlet and you need to show people how serious it is and you need to make one big dramatic f–king thing,” English continued.
Pirro rejected the defendant’s argument for a lighter sentence based on being a “young transexual woman who has experienced trauma and suffering from the day she was born,” Pirro wrote in a statement announcing English’s guilty plea in March, “Our system of justice depends on public officials being able to carry out their duties free from intimidation and fear,” Pirro added, “This defendant’s threats crossed a clear legal line, and today’s guilty plea reflects our commitment to protecting those who serve. Anyone who threatens violence against government officials will be identified, charged, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Notably, Bessent is an openly gay man married to John Freeman, a former New York City prosecutor.