Man who threatened to detonate bomb outside Library of Congress surrenders to Capitol Police
A man claiming to have a bomb and threatening to detonate it in a pickup truck outside the Library of Congress surrendered to police Thursday after an hours-long standoff that forced the evacuation of multiple buildings on Capitol Hill.
The man was identified by U.S. Capitol Police as Floyd Ray Roseberry of Grover, N.C. He was taken into custody shortly after 2 p.m. ET without incident, Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger told reporters.
A bomb was not found in the vehicle, but "possible bomb making materials" were collected from the truck, police said in a news release.
Manger declined to speculate about a possible motive, but said that Roseberry had recently experienced personal trauma, including the loss of his mother. Capitol Police are working with the FBI Washington Field Office on the investigation, Manger added.
For nearly five hours, police urged people to avoid the area as they negotiated with the suspect, while snipers could be seen positioned around the Capitol grounds.
The FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the District of Columbia's Metropolitan Police assisted Capitol Police in its response.
A photo posted to social media showed a white man in a muddy pickup truck stopped on the sidewalk outside the library's Jefferson Building, with what appeared to be dollar bills scattered on the street.
In a video streamed live on Facebook, Roseberry threatened to blow up “two and a half city blocks” if police tried to shoot him. He claimed to have ammonium nitrate in a toolbox.
“The revolution is on,” he said. “I’m ready to die for the cause.”
At various points during the 30-minute livestream, Roseberry expressed anti-government views and was critical of President Biden.
Social media posts attributed to Roseberry suggested he was a supporter of former President Donald Trump and believed the 2020 election was stolen.
According to a law enforcement update obtained by Yahoo News, police negotiators used a whiteboard to communicate with him. Among other things, he stated that he did not have any weapons and wanted to talk to “a preacher.”
He also claimed to have planted another bomb within the city. Earlier Thursday, the U.S. Park Police discovered an abandoned vehicle with a propane tank inside near one of its stations. The vehicle was towed to a storage lot, and officials are now trying to determine whether it was associated with the incident.
According to the update, Roseberry is a U.S. citizen with no travel history. He was charged with misdemeanor larceny in 1989.
The incident began around 9:15 a.m. ET, when Capitol Police responded to reports of a pickup truck that drove onto the sidewalk outside the Library of Congress.
A responding officer said the man appeared to have a detonator in his hand, prompting the evacuation of two Library of Congress buildings — the Jefferson and Madison Buildings — as well as the Supreme Court and nearby congressional offices.
Congress is on recess this week, and many of the offices are vacant.
The incident comes months after a pipe bomb was left at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee, on the day before a violent mob of supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol. The deadly riot on Jan. 6 prompted increased security measures, including the construction of a temporary fence around the Capitol.
In April, Capitol Police Officer William F. Evans was killed and a second officer was injured after being rammed by a vehicle at an entrance to the Capitol. The suspect was shot and killed.
Jana Winter contributed reporting to this story.
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