Library of Congress bomb suspect blocked on Facebook after livestreaming for hours
The suspect, identified as 49-year-old Floyd Ray Roseberry of North Carolina, claimed to have a bomb in his pickup
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Facebook confirmed Wednesday that it has blocked accounts belonging to the Library of Congress bomb suspect after the man purportedly livestreamed on the platform.
"We are in contact with law enforcement and have removed the suspect's videos and profile from Facebook and Instagram," Facebook said in a statement. "Our teams are working to identify, remove, and block any other instances of the suspect’s videos which do not condemn, neutrally discuss the incident or provide neutral news coverage of the issue."
The suspect, identified as 49-year-old Floyd Ray Roseberry of North Carolina, claimed to have a bomb in his pickup truck parked in front of the Library of Congress. Police took him into custody at 2:15 p.m. local time after an hourslong standoff in which he made bomb threats to officers, though authorities did not immediately know if there were explosives in the vehicle.
US CAPITOL BOMB THREAT SUSPECT SURRENDERS
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Politico reported Roseberry livestreamed anti-government remarks while sitting in his car surrounded by federal officers. The suspect purportedly began streaming at 7:30 a.m. while driving to Washington D.C.
Facebook did not respond to a question regarding how long it took for the suspect’s account to be blocked. A company representative said the livestream was taken down because it violated Facebook’s dangerous organization policies.
The company is also temporarily blocking users from creating accounts with the same name as the suspect on Facebook and Instagram.
During the livestream, the suspect made anti-government threats and threatened explosions. He also ranted against U.S. policies related to Afghanistan, the military and health care and said he wanted to speak to President Biden.
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Facebook has faced scrutiny over its response to disturbing content on live streams in the past. The platform overhauled its live-streaming rules in 2019 after the deadly mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand was broadcast on the platform.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.