A North Carolina man surrendered to police Thursday hours after saying he had a bomb while parked in his truck outside the Library of Congress on Capitol Hill.
That threat by the suspect, 49-year-old Floyd Ray Roseberry, led to the evacuation of the library, the Supreme Court, a House office building, and the offices of the Republican National Committee.
Roseberry posted several videos online while sitting in his truck in the hours before he surrendered.
“He got out of the vehicle and surrendered and the tactical units that were close by took him into custody without incident,” said U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger.
“He gave up and did not resist.”
Manger said there was a propane gas container in the truck, but “at this point we think that’s safe.”
A man named Floyd Ray Roseberry who claims to be sitting in his truck with explosives speaks during a Facebook livestream in a still image from video taken in Washington, U.S. August 19, 2021.
Social Media | via Reuters
Manger said that Roseberry, who most recently lived in Grover, North Carolina, had some losses of family,” including his mother, who “recently passed away.”
“There were other issues that he was dealing with,” the chief said.
Manger earlier had told reporters that Roseberry drove his truck onto the sidewalk in front of the Library of Congress at about 9:15 a.m.
When Capitol Police responded to a call about the truck, “The driver of the truck told the responding officer on the scene that he had a bomb and what appeared, the officer said, appeared to be a detonator in the man’s hand,” Manger said.
“So we immediately evacuated the nearby buildings,” Manger said.
A pickup truck is parked on the sidewalk in front of the Library of Congress’ Thomas Jefferson Building, as seen from a window of the U.S. Capitol, Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021, in Washington.
Alex Brandon | AP
Roseberry was making anti-government statements, according to law enforcement officials who spoke with NBC News.
A Facebook livestream appears to show Roseberry in his truck outside the Library of Congress.
Facebook removed the stream about 90 minutes after the video was recorded, a company spokesman said.
Officials said Roseberry claimed to have a propane tank inside the cab of the truck.
Two law enforcement officials told NBC that he communicated with authorities by writing on a dry-erase board that he had in the vehicle.
Bomb technicians from the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were at the scene, in addition to FBI negotiators.
People at the Cannon House Office Building received an alert telling them to leave that building and relocate to the Longworth House Office Building.
People are evacuated from the James Madison Memorial Building, a Library of Congress building, in Washington on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021, as law enforcement investigate a report of a pickup truck containing an explosive device near the U.S. Capitol.
Alex Brandon | AP
Congress is currently in recess. The Supreme Court also is not in session.
The White House was monitoring the situation, and getting updates from law enforcement.
Subways were bypassing the Capitol South station because of the investigation, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority said.
– Additional reporting by CNBC’s Amanda Macias and Brian Schwartz
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