Enlarge image
Police officers on duty in front of the US Capitol
Photo: Ken Cedeno / imago images / ZUMA Wire
A bomb threat at the US Capitol provoked a large-scale police operation.
A man pulled a black pickup truck onto the sidewalk outside the Capitol library on Thursday and said he had a bomb, Capitol Police chief Thomas Manger said.
The suspect seemed to be holding a detonator in his hand.
While surrounding buildings were being evacuated, police negotiators tried to get the man to give up.
"We don't know what his motives are at the moment," Manger said.
The man broadcast the events live on the online Facebook network.
"I love this country," he said in a shaky video from his car that was later posted on YouTube.
"The revelation is here".
He said he was waiting for other "patriots" to come to his aid.
"You know I'm here".
He would not press the trigger, the police would have to shoot him.
The Capitol Police, the Washington State Police Department, and the FBI Federal Police were in large numbers.
According to a representative, the White House was kept up to date by the police on what was going on.
The Capitol Police initially called a bomb alarm because of a "suspicious vehicle".
"This is an active bomb threat investigation," wrote the agency on Twitter.
She will provide further information in due course.
The police called on the population to avoid the area.
The nearby US Supreme Court was also cleared.
There is currently no session week in Congress, but there are parliamentary staff in the offices.
Security measures have been tightened in the area since the storming of the Capitol by radical supporters of then President Donald Trump on January 6th.
On April 2, a police officer was killed by an attacker near Congress.
The attacker was shot.
mfh / AFP