WASHINGTON — Authorities have concluded that a Cleveland County man accused of claiming to have a bomb in a pickup truck near the U.S. Capitol is competent to stand trial.
Floyd Ray Roseberry, 49, of Grover, North Carolina surrendered to law enforcement following an hourslong standoff on Aug. 19 that prompted a massive police response and the evacuations of government buildings in the area.
Authorities were investigating what led Roseberry to drive onto the sidewalk outside the Library of Congress, make bomb threats to officers and profess a litany of anti-government grievances as part of a bizarre episode that he live-streamed for a Facebook audience.
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Police later searched the vehicle and said they did not find a bomb but did collect possible bomb-making materials.
The standoff was resolved peacefully after roughly five hours of negotiations, ending when Roseberry crawled out of the truck and was taken into police custody. But even in a city with a long history of dramatic law enforcement encounters outside federal landmarks, this episode was notable for its timing -- Washington remains on edge eight months after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol -- and for the way the suspect harnessed social media to draw attention to his actions in the hours before his arrest.
Authorities who spent hours negotiating with Roseberry -- he held up handwritten signs through his driver-side window -- were continuing to dig into his background. They did not reveal any details about a motive.
During the incident, videos surfaced of Roseberry on Facebook Live inside the truck, which was stuffed with coins and boxes. He was threatening explosions, making anti-government threats and talking about what he believes are the ills of the country, including the U.S. position on Afghanistan, health care and the military.
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He said Democrats needed to step down, then also said he loved the president, Democrat Joe Biden. Facebook removed the videos a few hours after they were apparently filmed. Roseberry did not appear to have a specific demand for law enforcement other than to speak with Biden.
“The police are coming,” Roseberry can be heard saying in the live. “I’m trying to get Joe Biden on the phone.”
At his competency hearing via video conference on Sept. 22, authorities said Roseberry’s medications were changed and as a result, a doctor concluded that he is competent to stand trial.
Roseberry has been charged with threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction and threat by explosives. He was indicted on both counts and his attorney entered a not guilty plea, officials told Channel 9.
When a judge asked how he was feeling, he said, “I feel great.”
Roseberry’s next court hearing is on Oct. 8.
‘I don’t know what happened to him’
One of the people watching that video was Roseberry’s pastor and friend of more than 20 years, Bishop Brady Jackson. He said until Thursday, he didn’t know Roseberry’s political beliefs or who he voted for. But he didn’t recognize his friend in that video.
“That’s not Ray,” he said. “He’s a good guy. I don’t know what happened to him.”
Roseberry’s ex-wife, Crystal Roseberry, said she had seen images of the man in the standoff at the Capitol and confirmed to The Associated Press that it was her ex-husband. She said she had never known him to have explosives but that he was an avid collector of firearms.
Channel 9 confirmed that the FBI contacted the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office about Roseberry, which led to a search at a home off Blacksburg Road in Grover. Property records show the home belongs to Roseberry.
Chopper 9 Skyzoom flew over the home and authorities could be seen searching around the property.
Just before 2 p.m. Thursday, Channel 9′s Joe Bruno said a bomb squad had arrived on scene and set up its operation across the street from the home. At one point, officers were seen unloading a robot to help with the investigation.
At a news conference, authorities said there was no threat to the public at this time and they were working to get search warrants to investigate inside Roseberry’s home.
Just up the road at Evans Garage auto repair shop, Randy Evans told Channel 9 that he met Roseberry one time. He said he sometimes heard loud bangs from Roseberry’s property. Another neighbor once complained about the noise.
“Had no idea anything like that is going on,” Evans said.
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Authorities said Roseberry has one prior arrest in the county, but would not give any additional details.
Capitol police and the FBI are working to determine the motive behind the threat, according to deputies.
Social media offers clues
Investigators had been speaking with members of Roseberry’s family and learned his mother had recently died, Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said.
“There were other issues he was dealing with,” the chief said, without providing specific details.
But social media appeared to offer its own clues.
As police continued negotiations, video surfaced of Roseberry on Facebook Live inside the truck, which was stuffed with coins and boxes. He threatened explosions, expressed hostility toward President Joe Biden, profanely warned of a “revolution” and laid bare a series of grievances related to U.S. positions on Afghanistan, health care and the military.
In the video, Roseberry can be heard saying: “Sir, this thing here, all I’m doing, I’m not gonna let this bomb go off, but if these windows break, see that little speaker right there, it sets off on decimals. Clear the block, clear the block. Joe Biden I’m not hurting nobody, but I think these flags need to go to half -staff brotha’. I’m telling you, my windows pop, this bomb is gonna go, it’s made for decimals. Your military experts, that you let get their legs blown off, are the ones that built this and if you don’t think it’s real gun powder in their boss man, there’s gun powder in there this is some of the strongest s*** you can get. I got two and a half pound of tannerite. Go ahead and get ‘em all in the building, but I’m telling you Biden, if these windows pop this bomb goes and there’s five of ‘em here.”
“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, ammonium nitrate is full,” he also said in the video, according to court documents.
Videos posted to Facebook before the page was taken down appear to show Roseberry at a Nov. 14 Washington rally attended by thousands of Trump supporters to protest what they claimed was a stolen election. One video appears to be filmed by Roseberry as he’s marching with a crowd of hundreds of people carrying American flags and Trump flags and shouting “stop the steal.”
Thursday’s incident began around 9:15 a.m. when a truck drove up the sidewalk outside the library. The driver told the responding officer he had a bomb, and he was holding what the officer believed to be a detonator. The truck had no license plates.
Kelsey Campbell, a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison visiting Washington as part of a class trip, said she and another student encountered Roseberry around 9:20 a.m. outside the nearby Supreme Court building. Campbell said he was with his truck, which was parked next to the sidewalk, and was holding a large stack of dollar bills.
“He said, ‘Hey, call the police, tell them to evacuate this street, and I’ll give you all this money,’” Campbell recounted to The AP. “I said, ‘No!’ and he threw the money at us and we started running.”
Campbell said she and the other student saw some police officers standing nearby. They told the officers what happened, and the officers then went to confront Roseberry.
The standoff brought the area surrounding the Capitol to a virtual standstill as police emptied buildings and cordoned off streets as a precaution. Congress is in recess this week, but staffers were seen calmly walking out of the area at the direction of authorities.
According to court documents, Cleveland County authorities contacted the FBI after an official recognized Roseberry from a report received Wednesday. A person reported their concerns that Roseberry had recently expressed anti-government views and an intent to travel to Virginia or Washington, D.C. to conduct acts of violence.
Court documents also said the person told Cleveland County authorities that 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.”
At around 10:20 a.m., Roseberry started to communicate with law enforcement using a small white dry erase board. According to court documents, he wrote messages such as, “Please don’t shoot the windows. The vibe will explode the bomb,” “I have no control of it,” “Decimals is what sets off not me.”
In the video posted to Facebook that morning, Roseberry was seen holding old metal can that appeared to have been fashioned into an explosive device, as seen in the photo below.
Court documents said at 2:15 p.m., Roseberry was taken into custody.
Officials said the can that Roseberry was seen holding was sent to a laboratory for further examination. According to court documents, the can had an unknown powder in the bottom of it and a fabricated trigger attached to the top.
By Thursday evening, authorities had finished searching the vehicle and determined the area to be safe after not finding an explosive.
The nation’s capital has been tense since the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, when thousands of supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the building as Congress was gathered to certify the results of the presidential election.
A day before the riot at 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 from where the truck was parked Thursday, was also evacuated over the threat. A spokesman for the DNC said its headquarters, which is located farther away from the truck’s location, was put under lockdown, but that lockdown has been lifted.
Thursday’s incident marked the third time in as many weeks that federal and military law enforcement authorities had to respond to attacks or possible threats in the Washington area. Officials are also jittery over a planned rally in September.
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 RNC, not far away from where the truck was parked Thursday, was also evacuated over the threat. Officials are also jittery over a planned rally in September in D.C.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report)
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