A North Carolina man who claimed to have a bomb in a car near the U.S. Capitol surrendered to law enforcement today after an hours-long standoff.
The suspect, identified as 49-year-old Floyd Ray Roseberry, is from Grover in Cleveland County, a small rural town on the border of South Carolina.
Roseberry, who livestreamed his actions on Facebook, drove a pickup truck onto the sidewalk outside the Library of Congress at about 9:15 a.m., according to The Associated Press. He 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.
Threats of explosives resulted in a roughly five-hour long standoff during which U.S. Capitol police negotiated with Roseberry, first using a dry erase board and then bringing him a telephone that he refused to use.
As negotiations were ongoing, Roseberry expressed multiple antigovernment sentiments live on social media, saying, “the revolution is on” and demanding to speak with President Joe Biden.
The deadlock ended Thursday afternoon when Roseberry crawled out of the truck and was taken into police custody.
U.S. Capitol Police were still searching the vehicle Thursday afternoon and had identified some “concerning” items, like propane containers in the bed of the truck, said Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger during a news conference. But it wasn’t clear whether Roseberry actually had any explosives in the vehicle.
“We don’t know if there are any explosives in the vehicle, it’s still an active scene,” he said.
The nation’s capital has been tense since the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump. Roseberry seems to be one those supporters—videos posted to his Facebook page before it was taken down appear to show the man at the Nov. 14 Washington rally attended by thousands of 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.”
According to public records, Roseberry voted in 2016 and 2020, but has no specific party affiliation. He lives in the fifth congressional district, which went to Trump with a 66 percent majority.
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.
Investigators who spoke with Roseberry’s family also learned that his mother had recently died, said Manger. “There were other issues he was dealing with,” the chief said, without providing specific details.
Thursday’s incident marked the third time in as many weeks that federal and military law enforcement authorities had to respond to attacks or possible threats. Officials are also jittery over a planned rally in September.
Support independent local journalism. Join the INDY Press Club to help us keep fearless watchdog reporting and essential arts and culture coverage viable in the Triangle.
Follow Staff Writer Jasmine Gallup on Twitter or send an email to jgallup@indyweek.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.