A police intervention was underway this Thursday afternoon in Washington in the United States after police spotted a suspicious vehicle near the Capitol. “This is an investigation for a bomb threat,” Capitol police said mid-morning, as authorities believe the truck parked “near the Library of Congress” could be filled with explosives .
The police “send negotiators to talk to a man in a truck who makes this threat,” CNN said, citing a police source. The police do not confirm this last information for the moment. The FBI announced that it was responding with Capitol Police to reports of “a suspicious vehicle and a bomb threat near the Library of Congress.”
Several surrounding buildings evacuated
Congress is not in session this week of parliamentary recess, but parliamentary employees and assistants frequent the Capitol. Several office buildings of the Library and Congress were evacuated and in others, those present were ordered to stay away from doors and windows, according to American journalists on the spot.
The headquarters of the Republican party, which is a few hundred meters away, was also evacuated, according to a reporter for the Washington Post who quotes an anonymous source. The police for their part called to avoid the area around the Library of Congress, which is opposite Congress, across a street and a park, right next to the Supreme Court.
The Capitol grounds have been under tight security since the deadly assault carried out on January 6 by supporters of Donald Trump. April 2nd, one policeman was killed and another injured when a young man had rushed his car against a roadblock that protects the entrance, before being shot.