The key facts

  • The incident occurred on November 2 at around 5:00 pm local time near the White House
  • William Clark was detained by the Guard members themselves and held until police arrived
  • The charge was reduced: assault and intimidation of a serviceman

What happened

US National Guard members detained a Washington resident who made a finger-gun gesture at them near the White House. This was reported by RIA Novosti, citing court materials, as retold by Gazeta.Ru. The incident occurred on November 2 at around 5:00 pm local time (1:00 am Moscow time on November 3).

The serviceman's account and the charge

According to court documents, a National Guard member driving a minibus noticed William Clark. According to the serviceman, the accused held a mobile phone in one hand while making a finger-gun shooting gesture with the other toward the vehicle. The Guard members detained Clark themselves and held him until police arrived. In the end, the charge against the suspect was reduced: he was charged with assault and intimidation of a serviceman.

Context of other detentions in the US

The report also mentions two other recent cases in the US. According to authorities, an airline passenger was detained after a joking message about hijacking: 25-year-old Dante Milne was texting a colleague sitting in another row and wrote that he was going to 'hijack' the plane and crash one row. In addition, a US court dropped the prosecution of a Russian scientist — details of this decision are not provided in the retelling.