WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Tennessee man pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to pointing a weapon at police at a U.S. Capitol tourist checkpoint, a confrontation that ended with him being shot, prosecutors said.
The suspect, Larry Dawson, 66, of Antioch, Tennessee, entered the plea in his first court appearance since the March 28 incident, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office said
Dawson was hospitalized after being wounded. U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson ordered him held pending a preliminary hearing, the spokesman said.
U.S. Capitol Police have said Dawson was shot after he pulled out what appeared to be a weapon at a Capitol Visitor Center checkpoint. A female bystander was also wounded.
Congress was not in session when the incident occurred. The white-domed Capitol was briefly locked down.
Dawson is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon
and assaulting a federal police officer with a dangerous weapon. He faces up to 55 years in prison if convicted of both charges.
In October, police arrested Dawson after they said he
interrupted a House of Representatives session, shouting he was
a "prophet of God." A judge ordered him to stay away from the Capitol grounds.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by David Gregorio)