Armed Front Royal man arrested at Capitol checkpoint Friday – job credential misunderstanding or more?

Myriad news sources have reported the Friday, January 15, arrest of a Front Royal man with a loaded high-round capacity handgun, what was described as over 500 rounds of ammunition, and what authorities determined was an invalid, non-government-issued credential to enter an inauguration area Capitol checkpoint.

The Washington Post reported that “Wesley Allen Beeler, 31, of Front Royal, drove his Ford F-150 pickup to a checkpoint on E Street Northeast of the Capitol, where he was met by Capitol Police officers … Beeler was arrested on charges of carrying a pistol without a license, possession of an unregistered firearm and possession of unregistered ammunition, a Capitol Police spokesperson said.”

Online report of Wesley Allen Beeler’s arrest accompanies a photo of the National Guard at Capitol checkpoint. But it was reported that Capitol Police were the arresting agency in the Beeler incident on Friday. He was released on his own recognizance Saturday. Stills from TV video by broadcast news agencies as cited

Contacted by the Washington Post, Beeler’s parents and wife said he was a security professional who told them he was doing late-night security work in the vicinity of the Capitol this week in the wake of the January 6 siege of the Capitol during Congressional certification of the presidential election result. The lapse of proper weapon registration by a security professional was not addressed. However, in an updated report almost three hours later shortly after 8 p.m. Saturday evening, Beeler was quoted upon his release as saying he was properly licensed in Virginia, if not D.C.

In what the Post described as “a tear-filled interview” after his Saturday release from jail on his own recognizance, Beeler confirmed what his parents and wife told the Post earlier, that he had “spent the past week working as hired security in downtown Washington ahead of the inauguration.

“It was an honest mistake,” Beeler told the Post, adding that he had forgotten “that his firearm was in his truck when he left his home in Virginia, where he said he has a license to carry. He said he realized it was there halfway through his trip but that he was running late, so he didn’t turn around.” He denied that he had the more than 500 rounds of ammunition listed in his arrest report.

“I pulled up to a checkpoint after getting lost in D.C. because I’m a country boy,” he said. “I showed them the inauguration badge that was given to me” by his employer, MVP Protective Services, he told the Post. Contacted by the Post at a phone number tied to the company, a man answering the phone said he was not authorized to address the matter due to its pending litigation status.

An anonymous source contacted by the Post told them that Beeler has “no extremist ties” and “cooperated fully with law enforcement and was cleared from further investigation, except for the charge of violating District law by carrying a pistol without a license.”

However, the Post team of eight reporters covering the story noted that while his non-valid Capitol access credentials were being examined, one officer at the scene noticed bumper stickers on Beeler’s truck, one of which read “If they come for your guns giv ‘em your bullets first” and the other “Assault Life”.

The incident began Friday, as Beeler was perceived to be attempting to enter the now fenced-in security area around the Capitol, Capitol Police checking his credentials found them to be non-government issued and not valid to grant him entry to the now restricted area around the U.S. Capitol as the inauguration of Joe Biden as president approaches on January 20.

Access to the U.S. Capitol is not as easy as it was on January 6, when Congress was under siege and some legislators feared for their lives.

Following notice of his bumper stickers as questions about the credentials he presented arose, Beeler was asked if he “had weapons in the car”. Beeler “volunteered that he had a Glock in his center armrest” the police-issued charging papers indicated leading to his removal from his truck at which point the Post reported the Capitol Police found a cache including the referenced 9 mm Glock handgun with 17 rounds in it, one in the chamber ready to be fired, as well as over 500 rounds of pistol ammunition, including hollow points, and almost two dozen shotgun shells the court filing indicated were “located in plain sight in the rear cargo area of the vehicle” the Post again cited from court documents on Beeler’s arrest.

The Post’s initial report quoted Beeler’s father Paul stating the weapon and ammunition were “things he needed for his armed security work”. His wife, Noelle, was also cited observing that she understood the alarmed reaction of authorities and the media in the current political environment – “It does sound suspicious,” she told the Post, adding that she believes her husband presented “no danger” and was glad he had been released by the court on Saturday.

Wesley Allen Beeler was released by a D.C. Superior Court judge on Saturday afternoon on his personal recognizance. He was ordered to stay out of D.C. other than for court appearances or meetings with his attorney. So much for that late-night security contract and the non-government issue Capitol grounds clearance document.

The above-quoted article was the work of a total of eight Washington Post reporters, three bylined, with contributions on the initial report by three more listed at the story’s end, and two additional on the updated 8:19 p.m. report – Thanks, ladies and gentlemen for a broad perspective on the incident involving a Front Royal resident. This reporter was unable to access any contact information for Beeler or his family, prior to publication.