Cleveland County Man Charged With Two Felonies After Claiming To Have Bomb Near Capitol

August 20, 2021

Brittney Melton, AP, Alexandra Elich,

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A pickup truck is parked on the sidewalk in front of the Library of Congress' Thomas Jefferson Building, as seen from a window of the U.S. Capitol, Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021, in Washington. A man sitting in the pickup truck outside the Library of Congress has told police that he has a bomb, and that's led to a massive law enforcement response to determine whether it's an operable explosive device. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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A robot is seen next to a person 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, Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021, in Washington. A man sitting in the pickup truck outside the Library of Congress has told police that he has a bomb, and that's led to a massive law enforcement response to determine whether it's an operable explosive device. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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A robot is seen near a person 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, Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021, in Washington. A man sitting in the pickup truck outside the Library of Congress has told police that he has a bomb, and that's led to a massive law enforcement response to determine whether it's an operable explosive device. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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This image taken through a window shows two law enforcement officers in camouflage near the Library of Congress and the U.S. Capitol building in Washington on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021. Police are investigating a report Thursday of a possible explosive device in a pickup truck outside the Library of Congress on Capitol Hill and have evacuated multiple buildings on the sprawling Capitol complex, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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People are evacuated from the James Madison Memorial Building, a Library of Congress building, in Washington on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021, as law enforcement investigate a report of a pickup truck containing an explosive device near the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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U.S. Capitol Police officers stand at an intersection near the U.S. Capitol and a Library of Congress building in Washington on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021, as law enforcement investigate a report of a possible explosive device in a pickup truck outside the Library of Congress on Capitol Hill and have evacuated have evacuated multiple buildings on the sprawling Capitol complex. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
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People are evacuated from the James Madison Memorial Building, a Library of Congress building, in Washington on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021, as law enforcement investigate a report of a pickup truck containing an explosive device near the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Law enforcement officials surround an area near the U.S. Capitol and a Library of Congress building in Washington on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021, as they investigate a report of a pickup truck containing an explosive device. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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This image taken through a window shows two law enforcement with rifles near the Library of Congress and the U.S. Capitol building in Washington on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021. Police are investigating a report Thursday of a possible explosive device in a pickup truck outside the Library of Congress on Capitol Hill and have evacuated multiple buildings on the sprawling Capitol complex, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The Latest:

The Cleveland County man who claimed to have bomb in a pickup truck near the U.S. Capitol has surrendered to law enforcement, ending an hourslong standoff on Thursday. He has been charged with two felonies: threaten use of a weapon of mass destruction and thereat by explosives.

The man, identified by law enforcement officials as Floyd Ray Roseberry, 49, of North Carolina, crawled out of the vehicle and was taken into custody shortly before 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

He parked his truck outside the Library of Congress earlier in the day and told police he had a bomb. An officer saw what appeared to be a detonator in the man’s hand.

The man had been negotiating with police during a standoff that lasted around five hours.

Local and federal officials including the Gaston County Police Department, Cleveland County deputies and the FBI are at Roseberry’s Grover home to investigate.

Original Story (8/19/21):

WASHINGTON — A man sitting in a black pickup truck outside the Library of Congress that told police Thursday that he had a bomb, prompting a massive law enforcement response to determine whether it was an operable device, may be from Cleveland County, North Carolina, according to Cleveland County Sheriff Alan Norman.

Sheriff Norman told WCCB that his office is investigating someone from Cleveland County currently in Washington, D.C.

Police evacuated multiple buildings around the Capitol after officers observed the man holding what appeared to be a detonator, U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said. The man’s name was not immediately disclosed.

Police negotiators were communicating with him as he wrote notes and showed them to authorities from inside the truck, according to three people who were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“My negotiators are hard at work trying to have a peaceful resolution to this incident,” Manger said. “We’re trying to get as much information as we can to find a way to peacefully resolve this.”

The episode began about 9:15 a.m. when the truck drove up the sidewalk outside the library, Manger said. The driver told the responding officer that he had a bomb, and was holding what the officer believed to be a detonator, The truck had no license plates.

Police sent snipers to the area near the Capitol and Supreme Court and evacuated multiple buildings on the sprawling Capitol complex. Congress is in recess this week, but staffers were seen calmly walking out of the area at the direction of authorities.

The nation’s capital has been tense since the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.

Fencing that had been installed around the Capitol grounds had been up for months but was taken down this summer. A day before thousands of pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol, pipe bombs were left at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee in Washington. No one has been arrested yet for placing the bombs.

The RNC, not far away from where the truck was parked Thursday, was also evacuated over the threat.

The area was blocked off by police cars and barricades, and multiple fire trucks and ambulances were staged nearby. Also responding were the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police, FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The White House said it was monitoring the situation and was being briefed by law enforcement.