‘That toolbox is full of ammonium nitrate’: Man lives streams bomb threat from U.S. Capitol on Facebook (updated)
A suspect involved in a bomb threat near the Capitol has been taken into custody, U.S. Capitol Police said in a press conference Thursday afternoon. Police had responded to a report of a suspicious car earlier Thursday morning, according to the department’s Twitter.
The man associated with the threat was living streaming on Facebook before his post was taken down.
GovTrack, a civic engagement and government accountability project, tweeted about the live stream.
“He made some pretty big claims,” the account wrote, but said they would not be sharing any of the clips from the livestream. “No indication right now which, if any, are true.”
Another person tweeted a photo of the alleged bomb threat suspect in a pickup truck near the Capitol.
In a video shared by a HuffPost reporter that is allegedly of the suspect, he is heard saying: "I’m ready to die for the cause … we’re living in a free country Joe, the choice is yours, if you want to shoot me and take the chance of blowing up two city blocks, because that toolbox is full of ammonium nitrate”
He also made statements calling into question the legitimacy of the 2020 election, saying Democrats need to step down, according to Justin Hendrix, an editor at Tech Policy Press, who said he watched the stream as well.
Video showed the suspect being apprehended around 2:20pm ET.
In a statement to the Daily Dot, Facebook said that "We are in contact with law enforcement and have removed the suspect’s videos and profile from Facebook and Instagram. 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.”
Capitol Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Dot.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
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