The US House of Representatives is investigating reports that an employee of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with a secure clearance status plotted to attack the agency’s headquarters, House Homeland Security Committee Chair Michael McCaul said in a statement on Wednesday. According to court documents filed by the federal government, investigators have probable cause to believe Wienke “was conspiring with another to commit workplace violence, and more particularly may have been conspiring or planning to commit violence against senior DHS officials in the building”.
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Jonathan Wienke, an analyst for DHS and a former Army medic, was caught carrying a revolver, a knife, handcuffs, pepper spray and an infrared camera into his workplace on June 9, agents say.
Investigators believe that Wienke may have been plotting, possibly with another person, to carry out an attack on DHS, including possibly on senior officials that frequented and were housed in the highly secure complex where Wienke works.
His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In addition to the knife, Wienke had brought pepper spray, infrared camera, radio devices and handcuffs with him to work, authorities said. He said he was unaware of any other city police calls to Wienke’s address.
Wienke, an analyst in the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, was charged June 10 with carrying a firearm without a license. An affidavit accompanying the search warrant for his apartment outlined the reasons the investigation thought this was the case.
A man who owns a bookstore near Wienke’s home said he rarely saw the DHS employee, who commuted 75 miles to Washington for work, outside his home.
At 9 a.m. Mann and another officer followed up with Wienke at his cubicle, directly across from where senior officials were meeting.
Officers seized the knife and spray, but remarkably Wienke was allowed to enter the building without any further checks taking place. They did exactly that, at which point they found a five-shot revolver loaded with.22-caliber hollow-point rounds in the front pocket of his trousers, causing Weinke to shout “an audible expletive”.
When Mann discovered the weapon, he wrote, he heard Wienke “utter an audible expletive”.
It is unclear in the documents what officers found in his home, or whether prosecutors intend to pursue additional charges.
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DHS Special Agent Eric Mann said Wienke entered DHS headquarters on the morning of June 9 and was subjected to the usual security measures, which include random screening at the door, leading to Wienke’s backpack being put in a screening machine.
