Washington police arrested a guest at the Trump International Hotel five blocks from the White House early Wednesday after discovering firearms in his car, authorities said.
Officers were called in overnight to the hotel, housed in the capital's Old Post Office, in response to a tip. They found a rifle in "plain view" in a parked car, according to a police report provided to DPA.
A search of the vehicle produced an AR-15 Bushmaster rifle, a Glock handgun in the glove block and 90 rounds of ammunition for the two weapons.
Police found the car's owner, Bryan Moles, 43, of Edinboro, Pennsylvania, in his room in the hotel, where he was arrested on weapons charges.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser praised police for their "prompt response to this incident involving an individual with an illegal firearm in the nation's capital."
The Secret Service, which protects the president and his family, said that officers from the Washington field office were investigating "a potential threat against Secret Service protectees" and were participating in the case, based on tips from "a concerned citizen
and Trump International Hotel security staff."
The agency said that "at no time were any Secret Service protectees at risk."
Secret Service Agent Brian Ebert, head of the Washington field office, described the investigation as "new and ongoing."
The Old Post Office, an 1899 building still owned by the federal government, was leased to the Trump Organization in 2013 for renovation as a hotel. Then-candidate Donald Trump attended the hotel's "grand opening" just 13 days before his unexpected election
victory in November.
The sign on the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC.
