(Photo: Al Drago/REUTERS)
The African-American man that used his car to ram and kill a U.S. Capitol Police Force officer at Washington D.C. Friday suffered from severe mental health issues and probably staged the attack in order to commit suicide.
Noah Green, a 25-year-old who grew up in Virginia, was shot to death by responding to Capitol police after he drove his car into two other officers at around 1:00 p.m. Friday, killing Officer William Evans and injuring his partner.
Evans and his still unidentified partner, who was released from the hospital Saturday, were manning a checkpoint at Constitution Avenue when Evans suddenly barrelled his blue Nissan Altima sedan into them.
After striking down both policemen, Green exited his car, brandishing a knife. He lunged at responding officers, refusing to heed verbal commands. He was shot by another officer, arrested and taken to a nearby hospital where he later died of his wounds.
No clear motive has been established for Green's rampage but social media posts unearthed by media outlets paint a troubling picture of the assailant, and suggest he might have staged the attack as another attempt to commit suicide.
Friends and family say after he graduated from college, Green inexplicably became deeply paranoid and religious. He left family and friends apparently concerned about his deteriorating mental state.
Investigators discovered Green's delusions, paranoia and suicidal thoughts worsened over time. Green believed people had drugged him with Xanax, leaving him with addiction and withdrawal symptoms.
A few months before the attack, Green moved to Botswana and told his brother "his mind was telling him to basically commit suicide." He was severely injured when he stepped in front of a car in an unsuccessful suicide and returned to the U.S. after recovering from his injuries.
A week before the attack, Green wrote on Facebook he believed Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan had saved him "after the terrible afflictions I have suffered presumably by the CIA and FBI, government agencies of the United States of America."
"I have suffered multiple home break ins, food poisonings, assaults, unauthorized operations in the hospital, mind control," he said.
The night before the attack, Green became "violently ill." He sent a text message to his brother saying, "I'm just going to go and live and be homeless."
Shortly before his attack, Green wrote in Facebook the previous years were "tough" on him, and that "since the COVID-19 pandemic started it was tougher." He said he remained unemployed.
Green was a follower of Nation of Islam, a Black nationalist organization. He called himself as a "follower of Farrakhan" and posted messages in support of the group and its leader.
Green had petitioned to change his name to Noah Zaeem Muhammad in December 2020 in a Marion County, Indiana court, but didn't attend the name change hearing in Indianapolis four days before the attack.
Green once said he suffered from hallucinations, heart palpitations, headaches and suicidal thoughts. His brother believed these afflictions might be related to drug use or a mental disorder.
