Man who claimed he had bomb near Capitol pleads guilty

WASHINGTON – A man who caused evacuations and an hourslong standoff with police on Capitol Hill when he claimed he had a bomb in his pickup truck outside the Library of Congress pleaded guilty on Friday to a charge of threatening to use an explosive.

Floyd Ray Roseberry, of Grover, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to the felony charge in Washington federal court. He faces up to 10 years behind bars and is scheduled to be sentenced in June.

An email seeking comment was sent to his attorney on Friday.

Roseberry, 52, drove a black pickup truck onto the sidewalk outside the Library of Congress in August 2021 and began shouting to people in the street that he had a bomb. He later made the same bomb threats to police officers and professed a litany of antigovernment grievances as part of a bizarre episode that he livestreamed for a Facebook audience.

Police later said they did not find a bomb but did collect possible bomb-making materials. Roseberry surrendered after about five hours.

During an initial court appearance, Roseberry told the judge he had not taken his “mind medicine” and the judge ordered a mental competency hearing.

A psychiatrist found that medication that Roseberry had been taking wasn’t effectively treating his diagnosed bipolar disorder. A magistrate judge later ruled that the new treatment had been effective and Roseberry was competent to stand trial.