American sentenced to six years in prison for plotting to assassinate the US Treasury Secretary

A 24-year-old man from Massachusetts was sentenced to 73 months in prison on Tuesday after being convicted of plotting to assassinate U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced in a statement that Ryan Michael English, who identifies as a transgender woman and is also known as Raley Jane English, pleaded guilty in March to weapons-related offenses and other charges.

The department stated that a Capitol Police officer arrested English on January 27, 2025, when he was found carrying a machete and two Molotov cocktails.

The Justice Department added that English admitted he traveled to Washington to assassinate Bessent on the day scheduled for the Senate vote to confirm him in his position.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Janine Pilger, emphasized “zero tolerance for attempts to intimidate or harm government officials, which strike at the heart of our democracy and contradict the values we all uphold.”