A St. Louis woman who stopped in Washington D.C. for her vacation last year captured the moment Travis Reinking was arrested near the White House.
Brandi Alivia told NewsChannel 5 she was only 10 feet away from the Waffle House shooting suspect when the U.S. Secret Service stopped him from entering a restricted area.
Reinking approached an officer at the pedestrian entrance and asked to speak with the President on July 7, 2017, according to an arrest report from the Metro Police Department in D.C.
He reportedly said he was a "sovereign citizen" and had a right to inspect the grounds.
"The guard kind of stepped back and put his foot back like something was going to happen," recalled Alivia. "We saw him [Reinking] take off his sunglasses and his tie and just go in like he was going to go through the guard."
Alivia posted about her experience on Facebook that same day saying, "...it was so crazy to see it, it took five seconds before he was mobbed with secret service men."
"This kind of stuff may happen all the time because it's the White House and people are crazy, and I kind of started to back up a little bit," said Alivia.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation released his mugshot following that arrest matching the same hairstyle and white top as seen in a picture she captured.
The mother said she could not forget his face and his 6'4 stature, and never expected that the man she stood so close to, would one day be accused of a senseless crime.
"I can't even wrap my mind around it. It's so crazy to be that close to somebody, like five feet away, and then a year later see him in the news for doing what he did."
The arrest in D.C. sparked an investigation on Reinking by federal and state officials.
In August, his ability to keep firearms was revoked. Authorities removed four weapons from his possession and immediately handed them over to his father who had a valid identification card.
However, Metro police said his father returned the weapons to Reinking before he moved to Nasvhille last fall.
An agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said his father could face charges.
