Riley Jane English, a 24-year-old biological male who identifies as a woman, was sentenced to 73 months in prison for attempting to assassinate Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. U.S. District Judge Rudolf Contreras issued the sentence on August 18, 2026, after English pleaded guilty to traveling from Massachusetts to the U.S. Capitol with a knife and two Molotov cocktails in January 2025.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro stated that her office will not tolerate threats against public officials. English abandoned the assassination plan and turned herself in, admitting to police her intentions. The judge noted that the plan was unlikely to succeed and that English has mental health issues. English will also serve three years of supervised release following her prison term.