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US woman sentenced to six years in prison over plot to kill treasury secretary

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Cite

Associated Press. (2026, August 19). US woman sentenced to six years in prison over plot to kill treasury secretary. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/18/riley-english-sentenced-scott-bessent

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Guardian · collected 2026-08-19 · by Associated Press

Quick Summary

Riley English, a 26-year-old transgender woman from Massachusetts, has been sentenced to six years and one month in prison for plotting to kill US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The plan, which involved bringing homemade firebombs to the Capitol, had an "exceedingly low or nonexistent" chance of success according to the judge, Rudolph Contreras. English will also serve three years of supervised release after her imprisonment, and has already spent nearly 20 months in custody. Prosecutors had recommended a sentence of 10 years and one month, but Contreras took into account English's mental health crisis and addiction issues at the time of the incident.
Written by AI on 2026-08-19, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Riley English, a 26-year-old transgender woman from Massachusetts, has been sentenced to six years and one month in prison for plotting to kill Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary. English told police that she drove to Washington D.C. in January 2025 with homemade firebombs, intending to harm Bessent on the day of his Senate confirmation. However, Bessent was not at the Capitol and no one was injured. During her sentencing hearing, English apologized for her actions, stating that she had been struggling with a mental health crisis and substance abuse at the time. She will receive credit for the nearly 20 months she has already spent in jail. The judge acknowledged that English's life had been difficult, but noted that her plan to harm Bessent was unlikely to succeed, describing it as having an "exceedingly low or nonexistent" chance of success.

Written for “Plot to Kill Treasury Secretary” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Plot to Kill Treasury Secretary
Crime & Law · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
25
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
8%
2 of 25 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
66/100
The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-08-19 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Guardian · 1943 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Associated Press
627 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Wire or desk byline, not an individual reporter.
Also by Associated Press
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 627 articles by Associated Press →

Topics

Capitol Massachusetts Senate South Deerfield Washington

Subjects

English NORP · 14× Bessent PERSON · 4× Contreras PERSON · 3× Massachusetts GPE · 3× Jacob PERSON · 2× Luigi Mangione PERSON · 2× Washington GPE · 2× Capitol ORG · 1× Riley English PERSON · 1× Scott Bessent PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Riley English, a 26-year-old transgender woman, said she was in the grips of a mental health crisis and abusing drugs when she drove to Washington in January 2025 and told Capitol police that she was there to kill Bessent on the day of his Senate confirmation.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-08-19
🔮 English has remained jailed since her arrest and will get credit for the nearly 20 months that she already has spent in custody.

Claims (25 extracted, 2 hedged)

A Massachusetts woman who told police that she brought homemade firebombs to the US Capitol to kill Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, was sentenced on Tuesday to just over six years in prison. asserted
she → tell → prison
Riley English, a 26-year-old transgender woman, said she was in the grips of a mental health crisis and abusing drugs when she drove to Washington in January 2025 and told Capitol police that she was there to kill Bessent on the day of his Senate confirmation. asserted
she → say → confirmation
“I never wanted to hurt anyone,” she told Rudolph Contreras, a US district judge. asserted
she → want → Contreras
“I’m not a political person. asserted
I → ’m → ?
I’m not a violent person.” asserted
I → ’m → ?
Contreras, who was nominated to the bench by Barack Obama, sentenced English to six years and one month of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release. asserted
who → nominate → release
English has remained jailed since her arrest and will get credit for the nearly 20 months that she already has spent in custody. asserted
she → remain → custody
“You’ve had a very difficult life,” Contreras told English. asserted
Contreras → have → English
“Hopefully, the progress you’ve made in jail to this date has set you on the right path.” asserted
you → make → path
Nobody was injured, and Contreras said her plan to harm Bessent had an “exceedingly low or nonexistent” chance of success. asserted
plan → injure → success
Bessent was not at the Capitol when English arrived on 27 January 2025. asserted
English → arrive → January
The molotov cocktails that English brought to the Capitol appeared to be incapable of igniting, the judge noted. asserted
judge → bring → Capitol
Prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of 10 years and one month for English. asserted
Prosecutors → recommend → English
Brendan Horan, an assistant US attorney, said English had been planning the “attempted political assassination” for at least a month at a time when the threat of politically motivated violence had been mounting in the US. asserted
threat → say → US
“This was not a chance encounter or an impulsive act,” Horan said. asserted
Horan → say → ?
Maria Jacob, a defense attorney, said English was “terrified and traumatized” by fears of what would happen to transgender people under the second Trump administration. asserted
what → say → administration
“Our argument is that she was in a diminished mental state,” Jacob said. asserted
Jacob → say → state
Investigators said they found a folding knife, two homemade firebombs and a lighter in English’s possession at the Capitol. asserted
they → say → Capitol
English, of South Deerfield, Massachusetts, told police that she was influenced by Luigi Mangione, the man who was charged with fatally shooting the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. asserted
who → tell → UnitedHealthcare
She said she was “on a mission” and “had been thinking about this for a while because of Luigi Mangione”, prosecutors said. asserted
prosecutors → say → Mangione
English told officers that she was terminally ill and “wanted to do something before I go”, according to prosecutors. uncertain
I → tell → prosecutors
English also said she traveled from Massachusetts to Washington intending to kill other Republican political figures – Pete Hegseth and Mike Johnson – and to burn down the Heritage Foundation, a conservative thinktank, according to police. uncertain
she → say → police
English changed her target to Bessent after reading an internet post about his confirmation hearing, police said. asserted
police → change → hearing
Jacob said English’s actions last year were “a cry for help”. asserted
actions → say → help
“There was no indication that she was acting rationally that day,” the judge said. asserted
judge → be → ?
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