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Capitol Police Are Negotiating With Man Who Claims To Have Bomb Near The U.S. Capitol

By Brian Naylor

Published August 19, 2021 at 4:12 PM EDT

A police vehicle moves into an area Thursday near the U.S. Capitol and a Library of Congress building in Washington, D.C., as law enforcement officials investigate a report of a truck containing an explosive device. [Patrick Semansky / AP] — A police vehicle moves into an area Thursday near the U.S. Capitol and a Library of Congress building in Washington, D.C., as law enforcement officials investigate a report of a truck containing an explosive device.

Updated August 19, 2021 at 1:56 PM ET

U.S. Capitol Police said Thursday they are negotiating with a man who said he had a bomb in his truck near the Library of Congress, across from the U.S. Capitol.

Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger told reporters that the man drove a black pickup onto the sidewalk in front of the library's Jefferson Building at 9:15 a.m. ET and told an officer he had a bomb. The officer said the man had what appeared to be a detonator in his hand.

Manger said negotiations with the man are ongoing.

"My negotiators are hard at work to try to have a peaceful resolution to this incident," he said.

Manger said police don't know what the man's motives are but they do have "a possible name."

Several hours after the report of the incident, Facebook said it had deactivated a livestream, purportedly of the suspect in his truck.

"Not only deactivated the livestream, but we also removed his profile from Facebook and are continuing to investigate," said Andy Stone, director of policy communications at Facebook, said on Twitter.

In at least one of the videos, a man can be seen making anti-government remarks as well as saying he had ammonium nitrate in his truck's tool box.

Lawmakers are mostly away from Washington for the August recess

The bomb threat comes as Congress continues to investigate the Jan.6th insurrection at the Capitol, when a mob of demonstrators supporting then-President Donald Trump stormed the building.

Several streets in the area have been closed as well as nearby buildings of the library, the U.S. Supreme Court and Congress. The FBI said its Washington Field Office is responding, along with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Washington's transit agency said subway trains are bypassing the nearby Capitol South Metro station.

Neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate is in session, and most lawmakers are not in their offices.

This is a developing story.