A man who threatened to set off a bomb on Washington’s Capitol Hill on Thursday surrendered to police, ending an hours-long standoff that rattled lawmakers still shaken by January’s insurrection in support of former US president Donald Trump.
The incident triggered evacuations and a massive police response, and sent jolts of anxiety through a city that has spent months on alert, as political tensions soared following the deadly US Capitol riot.
The suspect, an apparent right-wing extremist identified by authorities as Floyd Ray Roseberry of North Carolina, was livestreaming from his truck, assailing US President Joe Biden and Democrats, warning of a “revolution,” and complaining about the US government and its policy in Afghanistan.
Photo: AFP
He had also claimed that four more sets of explosives were lying in wait in Washington and that they would be detonated, along with his bomb, if police used deadly force against him.
Much of the complex was cordoned off as officers and FBI agents negotiated with the driver, who police said had appeared to have a detonator in his hand.
Suddenly, after four hours of drama, it was over.
“He got out of the vehicle and surrendered, and the tactical units that were close by took him into custody without incident,” US Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger told reporters.
A subsequent search by law enforcement found no bomb in the vehicle parked on the sidewalk next to the Library of Congress, “but possible bomb making materials were collected from the truck,” the police said in a statement.
Manger said it was unclear what Roseberry’s motives were, but in his Facebook livestream he issued a series of incoherent threats and asked to speak to the president.
“I’m trying to get Joe Biden on the phone. I’m parked up here on the sidewalk right beside all this pretty stuff,” said the bald-headed man with a salt-and-pepper goatee, wearing a white T-shirt.
“I’m not hurting nobody, Joe. I’m not pulling the trigger on this thing. I can’t,” he said. “I’m telling you, them snipers come in, they start shooting this window out, this bomb’s going off.”
The live feed showed Roseberry in his vehicle holding a metal cylinder topped with clay attached to a box with buttons and wires, but it was ultimately determined not to be a viable explosive device.
Although he did not claim a political affiliation, he referred at one point to “the revolution” and said: “I’m looking for all my other patriots to come out and help me.”
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