Sandy MaloneWashington, DC – A five-hour long standoff between U.S. Capitol Police and a man who claimed to have a bomb in his truck on Thursday morning ended peacefully in the afternoon when the man surrendered to officers.
U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger told reporters the incident began at about 9:15 a.m. on Aug. 19 when a man drove a black pickup truck with no license plates onto the sidewalk outside the Library of Congress at First Street and Independence Avenue, SE, The Washington Post reported.
The man law enforcement officials have identified as Floyd Ray Roseberry of Grover, North Carolina, told a police officer who approached him on the sidewalk that he had a bomb inside of his truck.
The officer said that the suspect was holding something in his hand that could have been a detonator, MSNBC reported. h
SWAT and bomb squad units were called to the scene and law enforcement attempted to negotiate with the man.
Chief Manger said police delivered a phone to Roseberry using a robot but the man refused to pick it up and talk to them.
Police evacuated the Library of Congress and several nearby Congressional office buildings, the Associated Press reported.
Congress was not in session and most lawmakers have returned to their home districts for August recess, The Washington Post reported.
Roseberry livestreamed a series of videos to social media before and during the standoff.
The Huffington Post posted video to Twitter they said was from the scene in which the driver appeared to be addressing his remarks to President Joe Biden.
“If you blow my truck up, man hey, it’s on you, Joe,” the man said. “I’m ready to die for a cause.”
“And brother, you said if you could anything to save one life, one life, you said you’d do it. Well, you got a chance,” he said in the video. “I want to go home [unintelligible], I want to go home and see my wife.”
The driver may have been referring to a remark Biden made as vice president in 2013 during an argument for gun control, the Daily Voice reported.
“As the president [Obama] said, if your actions result in only saving one life, they’re worth taking,” President Biden said at the time. “But I’m convinced we can affect the well-being of millions of Americans and take thousands of people out of harm’s way if we act responsibly.”
“We’re livin’ in a free country, Joe. The choice is yours,” the man identified by WCNC as Roseberry continued in the video.
“If you wanna shoot me and take the chance of blowin’ up two and a half city blocks, cause that toolbox is full,” the man said.
“Ammonium nitrate, it’s full,” he added. “I don’t wanna die, Joe, I wanna go home.”
NEW: “The revolution is on. It’s here… I’m ready to die for the cause.”
Here’s video from the man who said he’s got a bomb outside the Capitol.
Follow @huffpost and @sara_bee for more as the situation develops. pic.twitter.com/aRx1hES7Vl
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) August 19, 2021
In a second video posted to Twitter by the Huffington Post, the man appeared to be delivering a warning.
“But I’m telling you, bud. The south’s here. There’s five of us spread all across your little DC part here…” he said in that video.
In yet a third video, the driver got into detail about the bomb he claimed to have in his truck.
“I’m telling you, my windows pop, this bomb’s gonna go. It’s made for distance,” the man said in the video.
Then he warned that the bombs had been built by military experts.
“And if you don’t think it’s real gunpowder in there boss man, there’s gunpowder in there, and this is some of the strongest shit you can get and it’s full. I got two-and-a-half pounds of Tannerite [unintelligible]. But I’m telling you, Biden, if these window pop, this bomb goes. And there’s five of ’em here.”
Chief Manger said the standoff ended when Roseberry surrendered peacefully to authorities, the Associated Press reported.
He said he expected the investigation at the scene to take hours.
The police chief said he did not yet know whether investigators had found any explosives in Roseberry’s truck, the Associated Press reported.
He also said authorities hadn’t yet determined what charges Roseberry would face in connection with the standoff.
Holly Matkin
