District Man Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Assault With a Dangerous Weapon in Confrontation With U.S. Capitol Police

            WASHINGTON – Bernard McCutcheon, 26, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for an incident last summer in which he confronted U.S. Capitol Police officers while in possession of two Molotov cocktails, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and J. Thomas Manger, Chief of the U.S. Capitol Police.

            At the time of the offense, McCutcheon was on probation in another case in which he threw a Molotov cocktail at a woman who was walking on a street in Northwest Washington.

            McCutcheon pleaded guilty on Sept. 30, 2022, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon. He was sentenced by the Honorable Michael O’Keefe to a total of 60 months in prison, but the judge suspended half of that time on the condition that McCutcheon later successfully complete three years of probation.

            According to court documents, on July 6, 2022, at approximately 3:30 p.m., McCutcheon was in possession of two Molotov Cocktails on the steps of 25 Massachusetts Avenue NW when U.S. Capitol Police officers responded to a 911 call. As the officers approached McCutcheon, he backed away from them while holding one of the Molotov Cocktails. During this confrontation, that Molotov Cocktail hit the ground near where the officers were standing.

            McCutcheon then took out the second Molotov Cocktail. While in close proximity to one of the officers, McCutcheon attempted several times to light the white cloth hanging from the bottle. After failing to light the cloth, McCutcheon fled and ran into a nearby bicycle rack, where the second Molotov Cocktail shattered on the ground. In a search at the time of the arrest, officers found a backpack containing a 2-liter soda bottle containing a pale amber liquid consistent with the appearance and odor of gasoline. McCutcheon has been in custody since his arrest.

            In the earlier case, McCutcheon pleaded guilty earlier this year to a charge of attempted assault with a dangerous weapon. On the afternoon of April 28, 2021, McCutcheon threw a Molotov cocktail at a woman who was walking near a gas station in the 300 block of Rhode Island Avenue NW. The bottle landed on the victim’s foot and burst into flames, catching her shoe on fire and bruising a toe. Shards of glass from the bottle also cut the victim’s shin. On May 20, 2022, McCutcheon was sentenced to 13 months in prison in this case, with all of the time suspended on the condition that he successfully complete 18 months of supervised probation.

            The Honorable James A. Crowell IV, who presided over the defendant’s earlier case, revoked his probation and sentenced him to the remaining time on his original sentence

             In announcing today’s sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Manger commended the work of those who investigated the case from the U.S. Capitol Police. They also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Tonya Queen, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Omeed A. Assefi, who investigated and prosecuted the case.