Photo via @ryanjreilly/Twitter, @EmilyGorcenski/Twitter
August 19, 2021, 10:24 am*
Update Thursday 2:24 PM EST: The Library of Congress bomb threat suspect got out of his vehicle and surrendered to law enforcement, per NBC News.
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A man parked on the sidewalk just in front of the Library of Congress reportedly told police that he has a bomb in his pickup truck and is in active negotiations with police after the building and the blocks around the area were evacuated. The potential bomber has been livestreaming himself in the truck addressing President Joe Biden directly, at one point saying that he wants to talk to the president on the phone.
Local police say they spotted a potential detonator in the man’s possession, though he said on his livestream that he won’t set off the bomb himself, at one point saying that he “can’t,” but that it will go off if they shoot him or the vehicle. Snipers have reportedly been put in place around the truck.
“I’m not hurtin’ nobody, Joe,” he says in one clip. “I’m not pulling the trigger on this thing. I can’t. There’s no way for me to blow this up. Only you can by shooting a bullet through my window.”
It’s also been reported that the bomber has sent photos of the explosive devices to police and he has claimed in his livestream that the back is filled with ammonium nitrate that could destroy “two and a half blocks.” What his specific demands are is yet unclear, though he did complain about lack of access to healthcare, saying that he can’t get “shots for my back” anymore, possibly referring to neural blocker injections often given to those suffering from back pain too severe for common pain relievers.
He did, however, declare that “the revolution is on.”
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“I’m looking for all my other patriots to come out and help me. Cause I got it standing, I got the foundation built, people.”
Congress is currently on recess, but members of their staff were still working in the Library and other buildings in the area and were quickly notified to evacuate. D.C. police are hoping that they can put an end to this peacefully without any trucks exploding.
“My negotiators are hard at work trying to have a peaceful resolution to this incident,” said U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger. “We’re trying to get as much information as we can to find a way to peacefully resolve this.”
The potential bomber shows his face in another clip from the livestream, saying that he’s “ready to die for a cause” but doesn’t want to, and would rather go home and see his wife, but says he’s leaving it up to Biden.
“And brother, if you said if you could do anything to save one life, one life, you said you’d do it. Well you got a chance. I wanna go home Sunday. I wanna go home and see my wife,” he says. “We’re living in a free country, Joe. Choice is yours.”
Another brief clip shows him seeming to claim that there are “five of us spreading all across your little DC part here,” raising concerns about possible additional bombers.
Though unconfirmed by authorities, internet sleuths have claimed to have found the bomber’s Facebook page, suggesting that his name is Ray Roseberry and that he hails from North Carolina. The alleged account is full of white supremacist talking points and follows Donald Trump and Donald Trump Jr. as well as Fox News and a page title “White Lives Matter.”
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This story is still developing, but as of this article’s publishing, nobody has been harmed.
*First Published: August 19, 2021, 10:22 am
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