U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras scheduled a sentencing hearing for Reel in January. Reel, 32, will remain without bond in a Washington jail until the January hearing.
Although there were no injuries in the bizarre incident, Reel pleaded guilty to a charge of "assaulting, impeding, intimidating, and interfering'' with federal officers by using his Jeep as a weapon. He had entered a not guilty plea in July.
The Jeep, which Reel rigged to operate without a driver as it crashed into the barricades, caused $5,345 in damages to a light post and steel barriers.
Reel entered his plea just one day after Capitol Hill police shot and killed a woman who rammed her car into a barrier on Capitol Hill. As he noted Thursday’s shooting, Contreras pointedly said that Reel was “lucky to be alive.’’
Reel told the court that after his arrest, he was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. He told Contreras he has been taking medication and has “been very cooperative’’ with the court psychiatrist.
Bipolar disorder is a mental illness in which a person’s mood can swing sharply between bursts of high energy and deep depression. Modern drugs often are effective to combat many of the symptoms.
Federal prosecutors made public documents that provided new details to Reel’s four-day odyssey that took him from Kettering to Washington. The documents showed that Reel devised an elaborate plan to spray-paint “Don’t Tread on Me Snake’’ on the walls of the White House residence.
According to the documents, Reel believed that “other people would see what he did and it would inspire them to all come together to stand up against the government.’’
Reel left Kettering on June 6 and the following day bought a can of green spray paint from a Walmart store in Frederick, Md., which is about 50 miles from Washington.
The next day, Reel drove to suburban Washington, parked his Jeep at Arlington National Cemetery, and walked past the national monuments and the White House “in an effort to educate himself on the security measures.’’
At 3:04 a.m. on June 9, Reel telephoned 911 to report “a threat made against the president of the United States.’’ He told the operator “there was a Secret Service guy I was talking to. They were saying that they were going to stage something outside of the White House, like a car wreck.’’
Four minutes later, Reel arranged for his Jeep to crash into a barrier near the White House. Reel hoped the distraction would allow him to jump the fence protecting the White House and the adjacent Old Executive Office Building, which houses the White House staff.
But when Reel jumped the fence, Secret Service officers arrested him. A search of Reel 's Jeep turned up 200 rounds of ammunition and two machetes but no guns or explosives.
When law-enforcement officials searched Reel’s’s Kettering home, they discovered two handguns, a Glock and a Taurus; a baseball bat with spikes on the barrel; a sword; a spear; two ballistics vests; four hunting knives; and a gas mask.
About the Author