The North Carolina man who claimed to have a bomb in his truck near the U.S. Capitol on Thursday has been charged.
Floyd Ray Roseberry, 49, was charged in his first court appearance in DC District Court on Friday with threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempted use of an explosive device.
The first charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a possible fine of up to $250,000. The second charge carries up to 10 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine. He was ordered to remain in jail without bail.
Roseberry was taken into custody Thursday evening after an hours-long standoff with police during which he threatened to detonate a bomb near the Library of Congress.
While parked in his truck, he ranted on a Facebook livestream that the “revolution starts today.” He also called for President Joe Biden’s resignation and a U.S. air strike on the Taliban in Afghanistan. He claimed in the video that he had a keg of gunpowder and more than two pounds of the explosive tannerite in the truck. He also suggested there were four other bombs in the D.C. area, CNBC reports.
Roseberry appeared in a teleconference before US Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui on Friday afternoon. He told the judge that he would have difficulty understanding the proceedings given that he hasn’t taken his blood pressure meds and “my mind medicine” since he surrendered to police.
Judge Faruqui ordered a psychological evaluation and appointed David Bos, a public defender, to represent Roseberry.
“We don’t have to see each other eye-to-eye,” Roseberry reportedly told the judge. “I can tell in your voice that you’re a good man. And I don’t have to not trust you. I’m willing to do whatever you ask.”
Court documents unsealed Friday after the hearing said local law enforcement in North Carolina were warned by one of Roseberry’s family members on Wednesday that he was planning to travel to DC, or Virginia to “conduct acts of violence.”
As the events were unfolding in Washington D.C. on Thursday a local official from Cleveland County, N.C. contacted the FBI “to report that the official recognized Roseberry as the subject of a report received the previous day, on August 18, 2021, by a person (W-1) related to Roseberry,” according to CNBC.
The Library of Congress and three Capitol office buildings have been evacuated as a result of the incident. It was the first time since Jan. 6, when a pro-Trump stormed the Capitol, that Capitol buildings were evacuated.
Roseberry is due back in court next Wednesday.
