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WASHINGTON – United States police were engaged in a standoff yesterday with an armed man who tried to break into an FBI office in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The incident came amid widespread outrage in right-wing circles over an FBI raid on former president Donald Trump’s Florida home although there was no immediate indication the events were linked.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said a person armed with a weapon had tried to “breach” the entry to the bureau’s office in the Ohio city of Cincinnati early yesterday.
“Upon the activation of an alarm and a response by armed FBI special agents, the subject fled,” the FBI said in a statement.
According to local media, the man fired a nail gun and brandished an AR-15-style rifle before fleeing by car.
A police spokesman said the vehicle was pursued by law enforcement.
“Once the vehicle came to a stop, gunfire was exchanged between officers on the scene and the suspect,” a police spokesman said.
“The scene is still active and there is still an active standoff situation occurring at this time,” he added.
FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday denounced threats made against the FBI following the raid on Trump’s residence, calling them “deplorable and dangerous”.
“Violence against law enforcement is not the answer no matter who you’re upset with,” Wray said.
The FBI and Justice Department have declined so far to publicly provide a reason for Monday’s raid on Trump’s palatial Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
But US media outlets said it was a court-authorised search related to the potential mishandling of classified documents sent to Mar-a-Lago after Trump left the White House in January last year. – AFP, August 12, 2022