This image provided by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia shows a government image of Floyd Ray Roseberry, who claimed he had a bomb in a pickup truck near the U.S. Capitol, prompting evacuations and an hourslong standoff with police. Roseberry pleaded guilty Friday, Jan. 27, 2023, to a federal crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison. (United States District Court for the District of Columbia)
A North Carolina man with a history of mental illness pleaded guilty to a federal offense Friday for parking his pickup truck near the U.S. Capitol and engaging in an hours-long standoff with police, falsely claiming to have a bomb and threatening to "blow up two and a half city blocks," as he put it that day.
Floyd R. Roseberry, then 49, was suffering from bipolar disorder on Aug. 19, 2021, when he issued his threats on Facebook Live from the driver's seat of his Chevrolet pickup, according to his lawyer. Police were forced to evacuate hundreds of people from Capitol Hill buildings and instructed hundreds of others to shelter in place during the 4½-hour crisis.
After his surrender, authorities found only a small amount of "smokeless black powder" in the truck, a prosecutor said Friday in U.S. District Court in Washington.
Appearing before Judge Rudolph Contreras, Roseberry pleaded guilty to threatening to use explosive materials, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. In return, the U.S. attorney's office in the District agreed not to prosecute him for a more serious charge involving the use of a weapon of mass destruction, which carries a possible life sentence.
Roseberry, of Grover, N.C., whose rants during the standoff included demands for the resignations of President Joe Biden and then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), addressed the judge in a quiet voice, saying he was in the throes of a psychotic break at the time because of ineffective medications.
"That's just a mental issue I've had as a consequence of something that happened years ago, basically my whole life," he said. He told the judge that he currently feels mentally stable because "I'm now under the correct medication. … It took me years to find the right medication."
Although the crime to which he pleaded guilty carries a prison term of up to 10 years and a $250,000 fine, advisory sentencing guidelines used by the court could recommend a far lesser penalty. Contreras scheduled sentencing for June 15 and allowed Roseberry to remain on home detention until then.
The incident began about 9:45 a.m., when Roseberry parked his black pickup on the sidewalk at First Street and Independence Avenue SE — in front of the Library of Congress and just east of the Capitol — and began airing his grievances against Biden and other Democrats in a Facebook live stream.
"The f---ing revolution starts today, Joe Biden," he said, according to an FBI affidavit filed in court. He warned police not to shoot him, saying he had a denotation trigger. "Before you start crackin' any pop on me, you better get your military experts out here and ask them what a seven-pound keg of gunpowder will do with two-point-five pounds of Tannerite" mixed in.
Tannerite is the brand name for a mixture of ammonium nitrate, aluminum powder and other substances used to make exploding rifle targets.
The standoff, which ended at 2:15 p.m., was especially alarming because of violence and civil unrest in that area in preceding months, notably the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a riotous mob of supporters of President Donald Trump.
Roseberry has dealt with mental health problems since childhood, his attorney said in court papers. He began deteriorating in recent years after the deaths of several close relatives. In the summer of 2020, when Roseberry was suicidal but unable to get inpatient treatment, a primary-care physician prescribed Adderall and Valium, according to court filings.
He was taking those drugs as prescribed at the time he drove to Washington from North Carolina and parked near the Capitol, his lawyer said.
At an earlier hearing on Roseberry's mental condition, psychologist Teresa Grant said she had evaluated him in the D.C. jail and was "shocked" to learn that he had been using a combination of drugs that are "contraindicated" for bipolar disorder.
"It can contribute to a manic or a psychotic episode," she told a judge, "and I think that is what happened."
