Washington on alert for several hours. An individual threatened to detonate a bomb near the Capitol, the building that houses Congress, this Thursday, August 19.
After hours of tense negotiations, the 49-year-old suspect finally surrendered to the police and was taken into custody. Footage broadcast by NBC showed the man exiting his vehicle, raising his arms, kneeling and crawling towards the police. “As far as we know, it was simply his decision to get to this point,” Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger said.
An investigation is still underway at the scene and it will take several hours for the police to secure the area.
A large perimeter encircling the seat of the US Congress had been set up. All the surrounding buildings, the Supreme Court, the headquarters of the Republican Party as well as the offices of Congress, had been evacuated in the morning.
At around 9:15 a.m., the suspect, driving a black pickup truck, climbed onto the sidewalk in front of the Library of Congress, which faces the majestic dome of the Capitol. “The driver of the van told the officer who arrived at the scene that he had a bomb and it appeared, according to the officer, that there was a detonator in the hand of this individual,” said Thomas Manger. .
In a video, viewed by AFP, the man threatened to detonate the bomb. “I’m telling you, if the snipers come, they start shooting at that window, this bomb will explode,” he said, referring to the snipers deployed on the scene. The individual also suggested that four other bombs had been placed elsewhere, in other cars.
Donald Trump supporter
According to the first elements, the suspect has been identified as Floyd Ray Roseberry. In the morning, he had filmed on his Facebook account making incoherent threats.
According to the monitoring group of extremist sites SITE, his social media posts suggest that he was “part of the pro-Trump movement” MAGA “”, acronym of “Make America Great Again”. America), the slogan of former President Donald Trump.
“I believe his mother was recently deceased, and we spoke with members of his family, he was struggling with other problems,” said the police chief.
This new case revives the memory of the murderous attack carried out on January 6 by supporters of the former president. Hundreds of pro-Trump protesters forced congressional entry as parliamentarians certified Democrat Joe Biden’s victory, wreaking havoc. 5 people died in the attack.