Attack may delay decisions on fencing

WASHINGTON — The latest deadly breach of the Capitol’s perimeter could delay the gradual reopening of the building’s grounds to the public just as lawmakers were considering a return to more normal security measures after the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Capitol Police officer William “Billy” Evans, an 18-year veteran of the force, was killed Friday when a man rammed his car into a barrier outside the Senate side of the building. The driver, identified as 25-yearold Noah Green, was shot and killed after he ran his car into Evans and another officer, got out and lunged at police with a knife.

The deaths came less than two weeks after the Capitol Police removed an outer fence that had temporarily cut off a wide swath of the area to cars and pedestrians, blocking major traffic arteries in the city. The fencing had been erected to secure the Capitol after the violent mob of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters attacked the building Jan. 6., interrupting the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory. The violence led to the deaths of five, including a Capitol Police officer.

Police, who took the brunt of the assaults that day, have left intact a second ring of fencing around the inner perimeter of the Capitol as they struggle to figure out how best to protect the building and those who work inside it.

Lawmakers have almost universally loathed the fencing, saying the seat of American democracy was meant to be open to the people, even if there was always going to be a threat.

But after Friday’s attack, some said they needed to procced with caution.

“Nobody wants that there,” said Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio. But the question is, is the environment safe enough to be able to take it down? In the meantime, maybe that fence can prevent some of these things from happening.”