A man named Floyd Ray Roseberry, who claims to be in his truck with explosives, speaks during a Facebook livestream in a still from a video that was captured in Washington on August 19, 2021.
Social media | via Reuters
The North Carolina man, who announced he had a bomb in his truck parked on Capitol Hill, was charged Friday on threats with the use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted use of an explosive device.
The man, Floyd Ray Roseberry, was arrested without bail pending a medical examination of the defendant at a hearing in the US District Court in Washington, DC.
Judge Zia Faruqui ordered the assessment after Roseberry said it was difficult to understand the trial as he had been denied blood pressure medication and “my mental medicine” since he was handed over to police on Thursday.
“My memory is not that good, sir,” said Roseberry via audio link during the remote performance.
“We don’t need to be eye to eye,” Roseberry said at one point, referring to the lack of physical presence or video. “I can tell by your voice that you are a good man … I am ready to do whatever is asked.”
Roseberry, who said he was 51 years old despite authorities said he was 49, was appointed federal defender by Faruqui.
He’s next on trial on Wednesday. Roseberry faces the highest possible life imprisonment if convicted of weapons of mass destruction.
Prosecutors said they would ask Faruqui to hold him pending trial without bail.
Roseberry’s threat resulted in the evacuation of buildings including the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, the Cannon House office building and the offices of the Republican National Committee.
Roseberry parked a pickup truck on a sidewalk in front of the library Thursday morning.
He then told police officers that he had a bomb inside, which set off an hour-long stalemate that resulted in him surrendering peacefully.
Floyd Ray Roseberry sits in his pickup truck in a standoff with the Capitol Police outside the Library of Congress in Washington DC on August 19, 2021
Photo: Sydney Bobb
Before giving up, the Grover, North Carolina man posted videos of his truck on Facebook speaking directly to President Joe Biden, whose resignation he called for when he called for a revolution.
He also called for US air strikes on the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Roseberry claimed in a video that he had a barrel of gunpowder and more than two pounds of the explosive tannerite in the truck. He also suggested that there were four more bombs in the DC area.
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