Luigi Mangione inspired a generation of left-wing killers – and now one of them just got a slap on the wrist.
Scott Bessent was sworn in as Treasury Secretary on January 27, 2025, and within hours a man from Massachusetts was outside the Capitol with a folding knife and two Molotov cocktails waiting for him.
An Obama-appointed judge just decided that this murder plot was only worth five years.
He Said It Out Loud
Ryan Michael English – who goes by Riley Jane English – drove from South Deerfield, Massachusetts, to Washington with weapons and a plan.
His original targets included House Speaker Mike Johnson and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
He also considered burning down the Heritage Foundation.
He settled on Bessent after seeing him on television at a library stop along the way.
"He said it with a smile on his face, and that got under my skin," English told investigators.
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English walked up to a Capitol Police officer at 3:12 p.m. and said he wanted to turn himself in.
Police found a folding knife, two 50-milliliter Absolut vodka bottles with cloth wicks attached, and a lighter.
"I was going to kill Scott Bessent," English told police.
"Kill Scott Bessent?" the officer repeated.
"Yes, sir," English confirmed.
Five Years for Plotting to Kill a Cabinet Member
Prosecutors asked for at least ten years.
U.S. District Judge Rudolf Contreras – appointed by Barack Obama – sentenced English to 63 months.
That's five years and three months before credit for time already served.
English has already been locked up for roughly 20 months.
He could be out in about three years.
Contreras explained his thinking from the bench.
"No one was harmed," the judge said. "The plan was basically impossible to succeed, and she turned herself in before it came anywhere near fruition."
He added that English had "many physical and mental health issues" made worse by drug use, and called the sentencing guidelines range of 97 to 121 months too high.
"You've had a very difficult life with a lot of challenges," Contreras told English. "You're young, you still have a significant portion of your life."
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The probation department had recommended 60 months – which is what the judge essentially gave him.
The defense team asked that English be sent to a female prison.
Contreras said he would pass the request along to the Bureau of Prisons.
The Mangione Connection Nobody Wants to Talk About
English told police he had been inspired by Luigi Mangione – the man who allegedly murdered UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a premeditated ambush in New York City in December 2024.
English said he almost talked himself out of the whole thing because of what happened to Mangione.
Then he pushed past it.
"That is so stupid, that accomplishes nothing, that poor kid just threw his life away for like a minute of vengeance," English told investigators.
That hesitation is why Bessent is alive today.
Federal prosecutors told a judge in the Mangione case that Mangione was deliberately cultivating an audience from his prison cell – corresponding with admirers, maintaining a public presence, and encouraging others to see assassination as a legitimate political act.
"Simply put, the defendant hoped to normalize the use of violence to achieve ideological or political objectives," prosecutors wrote in a court filing.
English is Exhibit A that it worked.
A 2025 poll found that 40 percent of young Americans believe political violence can be acceptable under certain circumstances.
Left-wing media spent months treating Mangione like a folk hero.
Someone made a musical about him.
Five performances in San Francisco sold out with standing ovations before the body was even cold.
English drove south on I-95 with Molotov cocktails in the back of his car and a plan to wait for the Treasury Secretary of the United States.
And an Obama judge gave him five years.
The Kavanaugh Precedent Judge Contreras Just Repeated
This is not the first time a left-wing assassination attempt on a conservative official got a light sentence from a Democrat-appointed judge.
Nicholas Roske traveled to Justice Brett Kavanaugh's home in 2022 with a pistol, zip ties, a knife, and a plan to kill him.
He pleaded guilty.
A Biden-appointed judge sentenced him to eight years – well below the guidelines.
The DOJ appealed.
The message being sent is consistent: showing up to kill a Republican official with weapons and stated intent is worth about as much prison time as a serious drug offense.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro put it plainly in her statement after the guilty plea.
"Our system of justice depends on public officials being able to carry out their duties free from intimidation and fear," Pirro wrote. "Anyone who threatens violence against government officials will be identified, charged, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
The prosecutors did their job.
The judge overruled them.
Bessent found out he had been targeted two hours after taking his oath of office.
The man who came to kill him will likely be back on the street well before Trump's term ends.
Sources:
- Eric Mack and Jake Gibson, "Transgender defendant who sought to 'kill Scott Bessent' sentenced to more than 6 years in prison," Fox News, August 18, 2026.
- Staff, "Transgender Sentenced to 63 Months for Plot Targeting Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent," YourNews, August 18, 2026.
- Staff, "Massachusetts Transgender Woman Pleads Guilty to Plotting to Kill Scott Bessent at Capitol," New Bedford Guide, March 30, 2026.
- Staff, "Biden judge gives light sentence for Kavanaugh assassination attempt," Fox News, October 10, 2025.
