WASHINGTON — Attorneys for Floyd Ray Roseberry, the North Carolina man who threatened to blow up the Library of Congress last August, asked a judge for more time to prepare medical records as part of a counterplea in the case.
During a virtual hearing Monday morning, Roseberry's lawyer asked the judge for either a 30- or 45-day status conference to prepare medical records to reach an agreement to resolve the case. Roseberry's defense said their counterplea offer involves further review of murder records of their client.
A federal judge agreed to give the defense 45 days, setting a new court date of May 16 to continue discussions and allow the defense to consider the government's plea. Last September, a federal magistrate judge ruled that Roseberry was competent to stand trial on charges of threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction.
Dr. Theresa Grant said she believed Roseberry had been on medication that wasn't effectively treating his bipolar disorder, and said proper medication could change his condition.
Roseberry was indicted on charges of threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction and threats to use explosive materials. If convicted on the first count, Roseberry faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Roseberry, who is from Grover, North Carolina, was arrested on Aug. 19 after an hours-long standoff in which he live-streamed himself from inside a pickup truck he'd parked on the steps of the Library of Congress. During the stream, Roseberry repeatedly called on President Joe Biden and other prominent Democrats to step down and warned that if police fired into his truck it would trigger an explosive device.
The truck Roseberry drove from North Carolina was filled with bags and tubs of loose change, which he intimated were designed to turn the vehicle into a huge IED. Roseberry was vague about the nature of the supposed explosive device. At one point he claimed he had a “toolbox full of ammonium nitrate.” At another, he said police should ask their experts “what a 7-pound bag of gunpowder would do with 2.5-lbs. of Tannerite.”
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