Police arrest a California man after finding a guillotine near the US Capitol

WASHINGTON — United States Capitol Police on Tuesday arrested a California man with what they said was a guillotine in the bed of a pickup truck parked near the U.S. Capitol complex.

Police detained 35-year-old Philan-Tam-Duy Le of Julian, California, shortly after 3 p.m., when the truck he was driving containing the device was illegally parked east of the Capitol grounds, Capitol police said.

Officers said they were investigating why the suspect, who drove from California, had made the trip and why he was transporting it.

A guillotine is an instrument for administering capital punishment by beheading and consists of a heavy blade mounted on a tall wooden frame. It was invented in late-18th Century France and became a symbol of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.