NC driver held after making bomb threat near US Capitol
WASHINGTON — A North Carolina man who claimed to have a bomb in a pickup truck near the U.S. Capitol surrendered to law enforcement after an hourslong standoff Thursday that prompted a massive police response and the evacuations of government buildings in the area.
Authorities searched the truck in an effort to understand what led the suspect, identified as Floyd Ray Roseberry, 49, to drive onto the sidewalk outside the Library of Congress, make bomb threats to officers and profess a litany of anti-government grievances as part of a bizarre episode that he live-streamed for a Facebook audience.
Police said they did not find a bomb in the vehicle but possible bomb-making materials were collected from it.
The standoff was resolved peacefully after roughly five hours of negotiations, ending when Roseberry crawled out of the truck and was taken into police custody. But even in a city with a long history of dramatic law enforcement encounters outside federal landmarks, this episode was notable for its timing — Washington remains on edge eight months after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol — and for the way the suspect harnessed social media to draw attention in real time to his actions.
Authorities who spent hours negotiating with Roseberry — first using a dry erase board and then bringing him a telephone that he refused to use — were digging into his background Thursday. They did not reveal any details about a motive, and no charges were immediately announced.
Investigators had been
speaking with members of Roseberry’s family and learned that his mother had recently died, Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said. “There were other issues he was dealing with,” the chief said, without providing specific details.
But social media appeared to offer its own clues.
As police continued negotiations, video surfaced of Roseberry on Facebook Live inside the truck, which was stuffed with coins and boxes. He threatened explosions, expressed hostility toward President Joe Biden, profanely warned of a “revolution” and laid bare a series of grievances related to U.S. positions on Afghanistan, health care and the military.
Roseberry’s ex-wife, Crystal Roseberry, said she had seen images of the man in the standoff at the Capitol and confirmed to The Associated Press that it was her ex-husband. She said had never known him to have explosives, but he was an avid collector of firearms.
Videos posted to Facebook before the page was taken down appear to show Roseberry at the Nov. 14 Washington rally attended by thousands of then-President Donald Trump
supporters to protest what they claimed was a stolen election. One video appears to be filmed by Roseberry as he’s marching with a crowd of hundreds of people carrying American flags and Trump flags and shouting “stop the steal.”
Thursday’s incident began around 9:15 a.m. when a truck drove up the sidewalk outside the library. The driver told the responding officer he had a bomb, and he was holding what the officer believed to be a detonator. The truck had no license plates.
Kelsey Campbell, a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison visiting Washington as part of a class trip, said she and another student encountered Roseberry around 9:20 a.m. outside the nearby Supreme Court building. Campbell said he was with his truck and was holding a stack of dollar bills.
“He said, ‘Hey, call the police, tell them to evacuate this street, and I’ll give you all this money,’ ” Campbell recounted. “I said, ‘No!’ and he threw the money at us and we started running.”
Campbell said she and the other student saw police officers nearby. They told the officers what happened, and the officers then went to confront Roseberry.