North Carolina man surrenders after bomb threat standoff in front of Library of Congress

WASHINGTON — A man is in custody after surrendering to police, ending a tense five-hour standoff Thursday in front of the Library of Congress.

Floyd Roy Roseberry of Grover, North Carolina, was taken into police custody “without incident,” Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger told reporters at a news conference. Manger said police are still searching Roseberry’s truck to see if he actually had explosives in the vehicle.

At an earlier news conference, Manger said a man drove a black truck drove onto a sidewalk in front of the Library of Congress and told an officer he had a bomb.

“The officer said [there] appeared to be a detonator in the man’s hand,” Manger told reporters shortly after noon. Officers were “in communication with the suspect” and working to “peacefully resolve” the situation, he said.

The threat sparked the evacuation of staffers across the Capitol complex and triggered reminders of the chaos of Jan. 6, leaving onlookers shaken. A video on Facebook appeared to show a man inside a truck streaming the standoff in real time and referencing “a revolution.” Manger did not confirm the authenticity of that footage, but said “some information has been livestreamed.”

The situation began unfolding around 9:30 a.m., when Capitol Police announced officers were investigating a suspicious vehicle near the library, located at the corner of First Street Southeast and Independence Avenue. Law enforcement alerted staff in the Library of Congress’ Madison and Jefferson buildings to evacuate, along with House staff in the Cannon House Office Building.

The House sergeantat-arms asked staff to avoid the area. “Due to the nature of the incident, this will likely be a prolonged law enforcement response,” the memo sent to House staff said.

The Hill would typically be filled with staff and lawmakers on a Thursday morning, but because both chambers are on an extended summer break, many were working off-campus. Still, some staffers could be seen early Thursday standing behind police lines in the surrounding areas waiting for more information.

“As you all know, the House and Senate are on recess. But there’s still people working throughout some of the buildings that were nearby this location,” said Manger, who was hired earlier this summer as the agency grapples with moving forward in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection that exposed major department failures.