Capitol Hill Bomb Threat Standoff Ends After NC Man Surrenders

WASHINGTON, DC — A North Carolina man surrendered Thursday afternoon after police said he told them he had a bomb in his truck parked on a sidewalk outside the Library of Congress on Capitol Hill.

The bomb threat by the suspect, 49-year-old Floyd Ray Roseberry of Grover, North Carolina, led to the evacuation of two Library of Congress buildings, the Supreme Court, a House office building, and the offices of the Republican National Committee, police said.

"A bomb was not found in the vehicle, but possible bomb making materials were collected from the truck," the Capitol Police said in a statement late Thursday afternoon. "Our investigators are working closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia to determine the charges."

Around midmorning on Thursday, the U.S. Capitol Police declared the incident "an active bomb threat investigation."

Law enforcement officials on the scene in front of the Library of Congress, near First Street SE and Independence Ave. to determine whether a suspicious device in Roseberry's black pickup truck was an operable explosive and whether he was holding a detonator.

Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger said negotiators worked hard "to have a peaceful resolution to this incident." The police used a robot to deliver a telephone to Roseberry, but he would not use the phone, Manger said.

Roseberry was communicating by holding up hand-written signs through the front, driver-side window, the Capitol Police said.

Eventually, the North Carolina man got out of his truck and surrendered.

“He got out of the vehicle and surrendered and the tactical units that were close by took him into custody without incident,” Manger said. “He gave up and did not resist.”

The incident began around 9:15 a.m. Thursday when Roseberry drove a black pickup truck onto the sidewalk in front of the Library of Congress.

As he was threatening to blow up the area, Roseberry used Facebook to conduct a livestream while sitting in his truck, police said. At one point, he launched into a rant against President Joe Biden and said he came to D.C. with explosives "for a reason."

"I'm here for the American people," Roseberry said in the livestream. "When the patriots come, your ass in trouble."

Roseberry's wife told NBC4 that her husband left North Carolina Wednesday night and said he was going on a fishing trip. She said her husband had been upset with the result of the 2020 presidential election and had voted for the first time in his life for President Donald Trump.

FBI officials and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, along with the Metropolitan Police Department, assisted the Capitol Police in the standoff.

Manger said there was a propane gas container in the truck.

The Capitol Police said it is working with the FBI Washington Field Office to investigate Roseberry’s background and his motive for the bomb threat.

During the standoff, Orange, Blue and Silver line Metro trains bypassed the Capitol South station due to the bomb threat investigation.

The bomb threat standoff came after pipe bombs were left at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee in D.C. a day before thousands of pro-Donald Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Police still have not arrested a suspect in connection with the planting of the two pipe bombs.