Media identify Capitol ramming suspect as black male, follower of radical Nation of Islam as his FB page promptly gets wiped

Green allegedly drove a car into security barriers outside the US Capitol on Friday afternoon, injuring two Capitol Police officers, one fatally. Police say he was shot by the officers as he left his vehicle and lunged at them with a knife. 

Despite their investigation being in its early stages, police say they have so far ruled out terrorism as a motive. 

President Joe Biden has called the incident an “attack,” while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) has dubbed the deceased officer a “martyr for our democracy.”

While police have not released any details about the suspect in the immediate aftermath of the attack, information obtained by NBC News identified him as 25-year-old Noah Green of Indiana. The African-American man was earlier seen being carried away from the scene of the attack on a stretcher by paramedics, and died shortly afterwards.

Green’s Facebook and Instagram accounts were deleted immediately after the NBC story broke, but screenshots purportedly showing some of Green’s posts have circulated online. Media reports have also added further detail about his online activity.

In the weeks leading up to the attack, Green wrote on Instagram that the US government was targeting him with “mind control,” also claiming he had “terrible afflictions” that were “presumably [caused] by the CIA and FBI, government agencies of the United States of America,” according to CNN. Another post described the federal government as the “#1 enemy of Black people.”

On Green’s Facebook page, moreover, he indicated that he was a follower of the Nation of Islam, a black nationalist interpretation of Islam that once counted Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali as members. Its current leader, Louis Farrakhan, often draws media attention with his anti-Semitic speeches.

Last month, Green reportedly wrote on Facebook that “these past few years have been tough, and these past few months have been tougher,” and that he had left his job to embark on a “spiritual journey.”

Police have identified the deceased officer as William Evans, an 18-year veteran of the force. He was hospitalized following the Friday incident, but succumbed to his injuries in hospital.

US Capitol Police Officer William “Billy” Evans, killed in the car ramming attack on the Capitol on April 2, 2021. ©  U.S. Capitol Police/Handout via REUTERS