Rep. Victoria Spaatz, R-Indiana, was charged with a weapons violation at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia, a spokesperson for the Washington Metropolitan Area Airports Authority confirmed to NBC News on Monday.
A spokesman said the congresswoman was charged on Friday and cited a section of Virginia law on the dangerous use of firearms and other weapons that makes it a crime to “possess or transport into an airline airport terminal” a firearm or various other dangerous weapons. The law classifies the violation as a misdemeanor.
NBC News has reached out to Spaatz’s office for comment.
Spaatz, the first Ukrainian-born immigrant to serve in Congress, is seeking reelection in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District, which includes the northern suburbs of Indianapolis and is rated Republican by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. He won a May primary by defeating a challenger who criticized his support for aid to Ukraine and other issues.
Spaatz is not the first deputy to face a violation related to carrying a weapon at the airport in recent years.
Then-Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R.N., was accused of carrying a loaded handgun at airport security in his home state in 2022. He had been stopped for carrying a firearm at airports twice during his two years in office. Cawthorn lost the 2022 primary.
