Man who claimed to have bomb near US Capitol surrenders to police
Fox News correspondent Mark Meredith has the latest on the standoff on 'America Reports'
Capitol bomb threat suspect Floyd Ray Roseberry was charged Friday in connection with threatening to detonate an explosive near the Library of Congress, prompting multiple evacuations of nearby buildings and lockdowns.
Roseberry, 49, a North Carolina resident, faces charges of threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to use an explosive device, the Justice Department said. He appeared before a federal judge court via teleconference Friday afternoon.
The incident began around 9:15 a.m. Thursday when the Capitol Police received reports of the driver of a pickup truck who drove onto the sidewalk in front of the Library of Congress. Roseberry allegedly told officers he had a bomb and an officer noticed what appeared to be a detonator in his hand.
Floyd Ray Roseberry, 49, on Friday was charged in connection with threatening to detonate a bomb near the U.S. Capitol. (Justice Department )
The U.S. House and Senate were on recess but some people were still working in the building, authorities said.
Roseberry had been live-streaming a video from the scene and throwing dollar bills out of the truck, authorities said
"The (expletive) revolution starts today Joe Biden," the DOJ alleged he said during the broadcast via Facebook, according to documents provided to Fox News. "If you want to shoot me and take the chance of blowing up two-and-a-half city blocks, 'cause that tool box is full, ammunition nitrate is full."
In the video, which has since been taken down, Roseberry is seen holding an old metal can that appeared to be a makeshift explosive device, the FBI said. An unknown powder was found at the bottom of the canister and a fabricated trigger was attached to it, officials said.
Roseberry sits in a pickup truck during a standoff with police. He allegedly threw dollar bills onto the street. (Justice Department )
After recognizing Roseberry from news reports, a local law enforcement official in North Carolina contacted the FBI to report he had been the subject of a report on Wednesday, the Justice Department said. An unidentified tipster related to Roseberry said they became concerned over his anti-government views and that he intended to travel to Virginia or Washington D.C., to commits acts of violence, court documents state.
The person said Roseberry ordered a trench coat to "protect him from Taser and pepper ball guns and he would just tip his cowboy hat at the police," the FBI said.
Floyd Roseberry holds a canister allegedly filled with powder and a fake trigger attached to it. (Justice Department )
During the stand-off, Roseberry communicated with authorities through notes written on a dry erase board and said he had experienced losses in his family. His ex-wife told the Associated Press that Roseberry was a collector of firearms but that she had never known him to have explosives.
She told a local news outlet he never voted before until the 2020 presidential race in which he supported then-President Donald Trump. He was reportedly unhappy that he lost.
Floyd Ray Roseberry apprehended after being in a pickup truck parked on the sidewalk in front of the Library of Congress' Thomas Jefferson Building, as seen from a window of the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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He surrendered to police around 2:15 p.m. without incident. The Capitol Police told Fox News Thursday that no bomb was found in the vehicle.
Investigators have not determined a motive for the incident. Roseberry faces up to life in prison.
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