Social-media accounts sharing video of Facebook user Ray Roseberry show him livestreaming in his vehicle saying he has bombs around Washington, D.C.
Facebook has confirmed that it removed Roseberry’s account and is taking action to prevent further sharing of the content on its platforms. The company is also in contact with law enforcement, a spokesperson told TheWrap.
In his 30-minute livestream on Facebook, Roseberry, 49, who later surrendered to police without incident, asks to speak to President Biden and claims he has four other explosives in the area nearby. He said he wants President Biden to resign and that a “revolution is on.”
In a statement provided to TheWrap, Facebook said it is working with law enforcement and that this event has been found as violating its dangerous organizations policies. The company confirmed that it removed accounts for the identified suspect from Facebook and Instagram.
“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,” a Facebook spokesperson told TheWrap.
Facebook also said it would remove any content that praises or supports the suspect and any additional accounts belonging to him or others that are creating accounts in his name on Facebook and Instagram. The Facebook Live videos have been taken down and any automatic detection of the content and other shares will be removed from both platforms.
US Capitol Police, after declaring an active bomb threat investigation was underway and ordering the evacuations of several are buildings, negotiated with Roseberry before his surrender. He was taken away from his truck, which was parked between the Library of Congress and the Capitol Building, without incident, the Capitol Police said.
Social media photos had shown cash on the ground around his vehicle.
It’s unclear why Roseberry was allowed to livestream for so long after Facebook tightened rules around going live after the Christchurch, New Zealand shootings, in which 51 people were killed at two mosques in March 2019. The company said at the time that it would implement a “one strike” policy that would temporarily restrict user access if the rule was violated. Facebook did not specifically list the offenses covered in that policy, or how long their access would be suspended for violating policies.