The FBI is reupping its call for information about an unsolved case that has vexed the agency for years: the planting of bombs outside the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee headquarters the night before the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
The agency released several new security camera videos of the still-unidentified suspect on Wednesday, offering up a more complete visual timeline of the person’s movements on foot in Washington, D.C., both before and after the pipe bombs were placed.
The previously unreleased tape includes several videos of the person walking toward the DNC headquarters, where a bomb was placed at around 7:54 p.m. Eastern Time on Jan. 5, 2021. The FBI also showed new footage of the person walking toward the RNC moments before planting a bomb there at 8:16 p.m.
The suspect was last seen on tape two minutes later.
The FBI is still offering a $500,000 reward for information that helps identify the person who placed pipe bombs at the offices of the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee on January 5, 2021. As part of our ongoing investigation, we’re releasing an… pic.twitter.com/LAP36S1nIk
The new videos add to already-released footage that shows the suspect walking around the Capitol Hill neighborhood and sitting on a park bench near the DNC building before planting a bomb there. The FBI says the suspect is 5 feet and 7 inches tall, carried a backpack and wore a grey hoodie, Nike sneakers, a mask, gloves and glasses.
The bombs did not detonate, but the FBI has described them as “viable” and warned they “could have seriously injured or killed innocent bystanders.” The FBI says they were made out of 1×8-inch pipes, kitchen timers and homemade black powder.
The devices were discovered the following afternoon, on Jan. 6, 2021, as police in D.C. were overwhelmed by rioting at the Capitol, which is near both the RNC and DNC buildings. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who was the vice president-elect at the time, was evacuated from the DNC headquarters when the devices were recovered.
Over the subsequent months and years, federal authorities tracked down and charged more than 1,500 people in connection with the Capitol riots, in a sweeping investigation that covered virtually every corner of the country — though convicted rioters were granted clemency by President Trump earlier this year.
But the pipe bombing case has remained unresolved. The FBI is offering $500,000 for information that helps it identify the suspect.
Earlier this year, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino listed the pipe bomb investigation as one of several unresolved cases that have gotten “additional resources and investigative attention.”
“I receive requested briefings on these cases weekly and we are making progress,” Bongino wrote in a post on X in May. “If you have any investigative tips on these matters that may assist us then please contact the FBI.”
