The U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) said Thursday that law enforcement officers were seeking a "peaceful resolution" in ongoing negotiations with a man threatening to detonate what he said was a bomb on Capitol Hill.
Updating the incident with reporters at a news conference, USCP Chief Tom Manger said the suspect drove a black pickup truck onto the sidewalk outside the Library of Congress around 9:15 a.m. ET, telling a responding officer that "he had a bomb." The officer said he saw what "appeared to be a detonator" in the man's hand, according to Manger.
Law enforcement was engaged in ongoing negotiations with the suspect, Manger said, adding negotiators were "hard at work" talking to the man, and that he was hoping to have "a peaceful resolution to this incident."
Manger said the suspect had been live-streaming the incident as it unfolded, and that officials did have a "possible name and identity" for the man, other than which "we don't have much information about him at this time."
The chief said the suspect's motives were not yet known, stressing "this is really an ongoing situation."
The live-stream video was posted on Facebook, but was later removed by the social media platform. In the video, the suspect was seen holding a canister that he said was a bomb and speaking about a "revolution," according to the CNN. The Washington Post reported no explosives have been found by the police at this point.
The incident led to a massive police response on Capitol Hill involving the Washington Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Washington Field Office National Capital Response Squad and the District of Columbia's Metropolitan Police.
Multiple buildings belonging to the sprawling Capitol Complex have been evacuated due to the incident, including the Supreme Court building, the Cannon House Office Building, the Library of Congress' Thomas Jefferson Building and James Madison Memorial Building.
The House and the Senate are both in summer recess and most lawmakers are not in their offices. The Supreme Court Building remains closed to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
