A man was taken into custody by Capitol Hill police after he got within several feet of President Donald Trump on Oct. 24.
The man, who has been identified as Ryan Clayton, is part of Americans Take Action, an activist group that calls for resisting and impeaching Trump.
Clayton threw mini-Russian flags and shouted as Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R–Ky.) walked past the press on Capitol Hill.
The White House press pool said Clayton was standing among reporters before the incident took place.
This is not the first incident involving Clayton. In February this year, he was escorted out after handing out Russian flags at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Given the high security at Capitol Hill, it is highly unusual for a protester to get this close to the president.
An NBC News congressional reporter posted an image on Twitter after the incident, showing Clayton standing behind Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn) earlier in the day.
Capitol Hill police said in a statement that it had arrested Clayton for “protesting inside the U.S. Capitol.” Clayton has been preliminarily charged with unlawful conduct.
The incident remains under investigation.
President Trump visited Capitol Hill for a luncheon with Republican lawmakers to discuss tax reform and other legislative matters.
Earlier in the day, Trump had called out Senator Corker on Twitter for not supporting tax reform. Referring to the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, which was introduced by Corker, Trump said that Corker had paved the way for the Iranian nuclear deal. The act made it possible for then-President Barack Obama to pass the Iran nuclear agreement without approval from Congress.
Earlier this month, Trump said he will not re-certify the nuclear agreement to Congress as required under the act, and instead is calling on Congress to put stricter controls on Iran’s nuclear program in place.
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