DOJ seeks 2.5 years in prison for man who threatened to set off bomb in Capitol Hill

WASHINGTON — Prosecutors say a North Carolina man should serve two-and-a-half years in prison for threatening to blow up his truck outside of the Library of Congress in August 2021.

Floyd Ray Roseberry, 52, of Grover, North Carolina, pleaded guilty in January to a felony count of threatening to use an explosive device. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed to drop a more serious charge of threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction which carried a potential sentence of up to life in prison.

Roseberry was arrested on Aug. 19, 2021, following an hours-long standoff outside the Library of Congress – where he had parked his truck and begun livestreaming himself demanding Biden leave office and repeating unfounded claims by former President Donald Trump that the 2020 election had been stolen. Roseberry claimed the vehicle was filled with gunpowder, ammonium nitrate and Tannerite and was rigged to explode if a certain decibel level was reached. He claimed at times to be one of five people who’d come to D.C. with explosives, although this was not true, and warned the blast could destroy two-and-a-half city blocks.

“Southern boys are here,” Roseberry said during his stream. “You can take me out. But when you do, you know what’s going to happen Joe Biden? There’s going to be a chain reaction. And that chain reaction’s going to be on your hands.”

On Friday, prosecutors filed a sentencing memo asking a federal judge to sentence Roseberry to 30 months, or roughly two-and-a-half years, in prison. In the memo they acknowledge Roseberry was suffering from a mistreated psychiatric condition at the time but argue his conduct was serious and warrants prison time.

“Mr. Roseberry effectively threatened the lives of hundreds of government officials and others working in surrounding buildings based in part on a political agenda just a few months after the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Tortorice wrote in the government’s memo.

As of Friday afternoon, Roseberry’s attorneys had not yet filed their response memo. In previous court filings, they have argued he should be allowed to stay at home and continue receiving mental health treatment.

Roseberry was scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 15 by U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras. He will receive credit for the approximate year he spent in pretrial detention before being released to home detention last August.