WASHINGTON: Law enforcement officials evacuated buildings near the US Capitol on Thursday (Aug 19) as they negotiated with a man who said he had a bomb in his pickup truck, locking down an area that was the scene of mass violence eight months ago.
Capitol Police Chief J Thomas Manger told reporters that the man parked his vehicle on a sidewalk outside the US Library of Congress at about 9.15am EDT and told an officer who approached him that he had a bomb while holding what appeared to be a detonator.
Police do not know the man’s motive, he said.
“My negotiators are hard at work trying to have a peaceful resolution to this incident,” Manger said at a press conference.
A US law enforcement source said the presence of explosives had not been confirmed.
A video livestreamed on Facebook showed a bald white man with a goatee speaking inside a truck parked on a sidewalk outside of what looked like the Library of Congress.
“The revolution’s on, it’s here,” said the man, who appeared to be holding a large metal cannister on his lap. “I’m trying to get (US President) Joe Biden on the phone.”
Police did not say whether the video was made by the suspect.
The man was identified by his ex-wife, who told Reuters that he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and had threatened her with firearms in the past. She said she divorced him about eight years ago.
“He’s crazy. He pulled a gun on me and his sister, and shot at me numerous times,” said the woman.
Reuters is withholding the name of the man and his ex-wife because his identity has not been confirmed by police.
Facebook later deactivated the livestream and removed the man’s profile, according to a spokesman.
Several nearby buildings were evacuated, including the US Supreme Court. People in the Madison office building were told to bar themselves in their offices. A nearby subway station was closed.
Police blocked off roads surrounding the Capitol complex as fire and rescue trucks headed to the area. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it was sending a bomb technician to support police. The Federal Bureau of Investigation also responded.
The ordinarily crowded Capitol Hill area was relatively deserted, with the US House of Representatives and Senate out of session.
High-security fencing was erected in the area after the deadly Jan 6 attack on the Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump, but it had been removed by mid-July.
For all the latest world News Click Here
