Deadly breach could delay decisions about Capitol fencing

Washington: The deadly breach of the Capitol's perimeter could delay the gradual reopening of the building's grounds to the public just as lawmakers were eyeing a return to more normal security measures following the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Capitol Police officer William Billy Evans, an 18-year veteran of the force, was killed Friday when a man rammed his car into a barrier outside the Senate side of the building.

The driver, identified as 25-year-old Noah Green, was shot and killed after he got out of his car and lunged at police with a knife.

Their deaths came less than than two weeks after the Capitol Police removed an outer fence that had cut off a wide swath of the area to cars and pedestrians, in an effort to secure the complex after thousands of then-President Donald Trump's supporters had marched on the building Jan. 6, as Congress was certifying Joe Biden's election victory.

About 800 of those loyalists broke inside the Capitol, and siege lead to the deaths of five people, including a Capitol Police officer.

Police have left an inner fencing perimeter intact. The tall, dark fencing parts of it covered in razor wire until recently -- had blocked major arteries that cross the city and was a stark symbol of the fear many in the Capitol felt after the violent mob laid siege two month ago.

Lawmakers said the seat of American democracy was meant to be open to the people, even if there was always going to be a threat.

But after Friday's attack, lawmakers said they needed to procced with caution.

It's an eyesore, it sucks, Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, chairman of a House spending committee that oversees security and the Capitol, said about the fencing in the hours after the two deaths.