Photo: CQ-Roll Call, Inc.
The U.S. Supreme Court was evacuated as the U.S. Capitol Police investigated reports of a suspicious vehicle with explosives on Thursday (August 19) morning. Staffers in the Madison, Jefferson, and Cannon House Office buildings were asked to evacuate as well. They were told to make their way to the Longworth office building.
"Around 9:15 a.m. this morning, a man in a black pickup truck drove onto the sidewalk in front of the Library of Congress near First and Independence Southeast. We responded to a disturbance call. The driver of the truck told the responding officer on the scene that he had a bomb and what appeared, the officer said, appeared to be a detonator in the man's hand. So we immediately evacuated the nearby buildings," U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said.
Officers used a robot to send a phone to the man, but he refused to take it. Instead, he communicated with officers using a dry erase board he had in his truck.
Around 2:30 p.m. ET, the suspect surrendered and was taken into custody "without incident." He was identified as 49-year-old Floyd Ray Roseberry. Officials have not determined his motives. They said the scene is still considered active, and they are trying to decide whether he actually had explosives in his truck.
According to NBC News, Roseberry live-streamed several videos on Facebook before and during the standoff. In the videos, he ranted about illegal immigrants and the U.S. healthcare system. In one video, he called for the U.S. to resume airstrikes in Afghanistan and demanded that President Joe Biden resign.
The Senate and House are not currently in session, and most lawmakers are not in their offices.
The White House said that President Biden was briefed on the situation.