Adrian J. Hinton, a 36-year-old resident of Lorton, Virginia, has been sentenced to one year of supervised release and 125 hours of community service for setting his car on fire using "napalm" on the U.S. Capitol grounds. This incident occurred as former President Carter lay in state at the Capitol Rotunda.
The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro and Chief J. Thomas Manger of the U.S. Capitol Police. Hinton had pleaded guilty on January 31, 2025, before U.S. District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta to the charge of destruction of government property.
Court documents revealed that on January 8, 2025, Hinton drove from Virginia to Washington, D.C., arriving at the U.S. Capitol Grounds shortly before 5 p.m., where he parked near the memorial to Ulysses S Grant on First Street NW between Pennsylvania Avenue and Maryland Avenue.
Hinton removed a bottle containing an unknown liquid from his vehicle and spread it over the top before igniting it. Bystanders alerted the U.S. Capitol Police about the burning car, prompting a response from USCP officers as well as agents from the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives.
Bomb technicians ensured there were no explosives or accelerants in the vehicle but did find matches, a bottle, and a knife nearby. After waiving his Miranda rights, Hinton admitted to law enforcement that he planned to set his car ablaze near the U.S. Capitol as a form of protest against recent election results. He claimed to have researched how to make homemade napalm using household fluids.
The case was investigated by multiple agencies including the U.S. Capitol Police and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with assistance from the FBI Washington Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory V. Cole is prosecuting this matter.
