Charleston man arrested outside U.S. Capitol with gun, ammo and list of U.S. and WV State Senators and Representatives

WASHINGTON D.C. (WDTV) - Dennis Westover, a 71-year-old man from South Charleston, West Virginia was arrested in Washington D.C. Wednesday, charged with carrying a pistol without a license.

According to police reports, an officer reports that Westover parked at an intersection close to the U.S. Capitol just after 1:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon and left his vehicle. Westover reportedly walked up to the fencing placed during the inauguration of President Joe Biden and began shouting at a Guardsman behind the fence.

According to charging documents, when approached, Westover told the responding officer that he “wanted to see the fence that was around ‘my Capitol.’” The officer identified Westover and asked if he had a firearm. Westover told the officer he had a P365 pistol that was unloaded, but did have a magazine inside. Westover believed that a West Virginia permit for the firearm was transferable to D.C. however, it was not.

Police began searching Westover’s vehicle. Inside they found the gun with nine bullets in the magazine, but none in the loading chamber. Police also report they found “Stop the Steal” paperwork that had “a list of Senators and Representatives both U.S. and West Virginia State Senators and Representatives, with contact info.”

When interviewed by police, Westover said he had concerns about the honesty and integrity of the election, but said his concerns over election fraud were moot.

According to Facebook posts by Westover, he attended the January 6th “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington D.C. that lead to the storming of the U.S. Capitol. However, no posts indicate that Westover took part in the storming of the building.

Westover’s Facebook history also shows a connection to the QAnon conspiracy, the far-right conspiracy theory that focuses on child sex trafficking and views President Trump as the one who would expose a cabal among Democrats.

On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin warning of heightened threats in all 50 states for the next few weeks following the inauguration of President Biden.