(Photo by Gabriella Demczuk/Getty Images)
Police say that the Pennsylvania man who was arrested on Wednesday at the Trump International Hotel for having unregistered weapons and 90 rounds of ammo in his car, told an acquaintance that he wanted to bring down “big pharmacy and big business medicine” and planned to stay in D.C. until he met with President Donald Trump.
But Judge Joseph Beshouri ordered on Thursday in D.C. Superior Court that Bryan Moles stay away from the area near the White House and temporarily surrender his firearms, according Jelahn Stewart, spokesperson for the U.S Attorney’s Office for D.C.
43-year-old Moles, a licensed physician and former Navy veteran, drove from his home in Edinboro, Pennsylvania to the District, checked into the hotel, and told a valet to keep his car secure because it had two firearms in it, according to a court document.
Before arriving at the hotel, Moles left voicemails with an acquaintance telling his plans for going to D.C. He also told the person that he had a car full of ammunition, survival supplies, batteries, and multiple cell phones, according to the document.
He said that his car “looked like Timothy McVeigh or Eric Rudolph was going on a camping trip,” referencing a man convicted for bombing a federal building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people in 1995, and a domestic terrorist convicted for a series of anti-abortion and anti-gay-motivated bombings, including one at Centennial Olympic Park during the Summer Olympics in Atlanta in 1996.
The acquaintance alerted Pennsylvania police about Moles’ voicemails and provided him with a description of Moles and his black 2017 BMW. The state police reported it to the Secret Service and Metropolitan Police Department.
At the scene, police found a Glock 23 pistol and a Carbon Bushmaster assault rifle inside of Moles’ care—one of the weapons was in plain view and the other was in the glove compartment.
Agreeing to talk to police in his hotel room, Moles told officers about the guns, saying that he brought the rifle for a friend to “trick out” for his son, according to the court document. He also said that he owns over 20 guns at his home and had experience with explosives and pipe bombs, but “hadn’t messed around with them in years.”
He also disclosed that he’s a recovering alcoholic, according to the court document. He said that he had post-traumatic stress disorder related to his time in the military, but wasn’t taking his medication because it made him suicidal. Instead, he said he self-medicates with by smoking marijuana, which police found along with a vape in his bathroom.
He also told police, according to the court document, that he’d withdrawn $10,000 before his trip “to live the life he always wanted before it was too late.”
Officers arrested Moles without incident, charging him with carrying a pistol without a license, carrying a dangerous weapon, and carrying unregistered ammunition.
D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham thanked the tipster at a press conference on Wednesday, saying that the person “averted a disaster here in our nation’s capital.” The Secret Service released a statement saying that at no time were their officers at risk.
Moles was released after his hearing on Thursday. The judge ordered him to stay overnight at a local hotel under the watch of a guard, according to The Washington Post. He’s expected to appear in federal court on Friday afternoon.
