‘Late Show’ Production Crew Members Arrested by Capitol Police, Charged With Unlawful Entry

Multiple people who were working as part of a Late Show production crew were arrested inside a congressional office building on Thursday, per multiple reports.

As the Associated Press reported on Saturday, U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) said “seven unauthorized people” in the building had been arrested and charged with unlawful entry, although a subsequent statement from USCP suggested more charges could be announced.

“Responding officers observed seven individuals, unescorted and without Congressional ID, in a sixth-floor hallway,” a police rep, who claimed to have received a disturbance call regarding the Longworth House Office Building at around 8:30 p.m. local time on Thursday, said in an AP-cited statement. “The building was closed to visitors, and these individuals were determined to be a part of a group that had been directed by the USCP to leave the building earlier in the day.”

CBS, the network behind the Late Show franchise currently hosted by Stephen Colbert, later confirmed that the individuals were working as part of a production team for the late-night series. The team, per the network, was working on a Capitol-focused segment starring the inimitable Triumph the Insult Comic Dog this week.

Earlier on Thursday, the crew is said to have been working on “authorized and pre-arranged” interviews. Once completing this portion of the work, the team is said to have turned their attention to capturing various “comedy elements” for the segment prior to police intervening.

The AP report adds that Robert Smigel, who voices Triumph, was among the multiple individuals to have been “stopped by” USCP officers.