Ankara: A person convicted in a plot to assassinate US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was sentenced Tuesday to more than six years in prison, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said. Ryan Michael English, 24, of South Deerfield, Massachusetts, who goes by Raleigh Jane English, confessed to the plot to US Capitol Police outside the Capitol on Jan. 27, 2025.

According to Anadolu Agency, officers found two bottles of "improvised Molotov cocktails" and a knife during a search, according to a US Capitol Police report. The US Attorney's Office stated that English told officers of his plan to kill a Cabinet nominee whose confirmation vote was scheduled for that day. The Senate later confirmed Bessent as Treasury secretary.

In addition to the assassination plot, English also revealed plans to burn down a think tank based in Washington, DC, according to the US Attorney's Office. Pirro emphasized, "My office will not tolerate attempts to intimidate or harm public officials," in a statement on US social media company X. She added that the attempt to attack Secretary Scott Bessent was an attack on the democratic process itself, contrary to the values the nation holds dear.

Judge Rudolph Contreras sentenced English to 73 months in prison and three years of supervised release after English pleaded guilty in May. Prosecutors had sought a 10-year sentence, underscoring the severity of the crime and its implications for national security.