For a year, the FBI has identified and arrested Trump supporters who allegedly stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021. More than 700 people have been charged with crimes related to the riots at the Capitol, and some have already been convicted and are serving prison terms.
Despite the impressive number of arrests, largely stemming from public denunciations, one individual has still managed to evade FBI custody: the maker of a pair of pipe bombs found on the day of the riot.
On January 6, authorities identified two pipe bombs in the DC area: one outside each of the national headquarters of both the Democratic and Republican parties.
The bombs were found just minutes before the riots began, drawing DC Metropolitan Police officers away from the Capitol to respond to the threat.
None of the devices were detonated, but the person responsible for planting them has evaded capture thus far.
A suspicious package
The FBI believes that both bombs were planted on the night of January 5, just one day before the “Stop the Steal” demonstration that ultimately turned into the attack on the Capitol. It is believed that the person responsible for planting the bombs left them between 7:30 pm and 8:30 pm. One of the bombs was placed in an alley behind the RNC (Republican National Committee) headquarters, and another was placed next to a park bench near the DNC (Democratic National Committee) headquarters, just a five-minute walk away.
Karlin Younger, a Wisconsin native who was walking by, was the first to notice the bomb near RNC headquarters. She immediately alerted the police. Around the same time, a "suspicious package", the pipe bomb, was discovered at the DNC headquarters, followed by an evacuation.
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Officers rushed to respond to both incidents just as Trump supporters gathered outside the Capitol began making their way into the building . The FBI now believes that the bombs may have been planted intentionally to draw law enforcement away from the Capitol.
Law enforcement did not know at the time why the bombs did not go off, but later stated that the explosives likely had improperly installed timers or batteries.
Although the bombs were eventually destroyed, the person responsible for planting them has not been captured. In September, the FBI released surveillance video that allegedly showed the perpetrator on the night he planted the bombs.
What we know about the perpetrator
According to FBI surveillance images, the suspect was wearing a gray sweatshirt with a gray hoodie, black gloves, light gray Nike Air Max Speed Turf sneakers, goggles, and a coronavirus mask. He was also carrying a backpack that he used to transport the bombs.
John Iannarelli, a retired FBI agent who worked there for 20 years and now writes and lectures on security issues, said that while the bombs are not sophisticated devices, the person who made them appears to have carefully planned their actions. for the night of January 5.
“Furthermore, as evidenced by his planning, this person did everything possible to hide himself. I mean, he was cold at night, but you still see other people outside and their faces aren't completely covered. They don't wear glasses, sunglasses at night," he told The Independent.
In addition, he believes that the perpetrator likely did not have a cell phone with him the night he planted the bombs. Iannarelli said law enforcement reportedly used cell phone towers in the area to reduce the number of people near the sites of the explosives the night they were planted. He believes that if the individual had had a phone, the FBI would probably have more information than just surveillance video.
The FBI also noted that the suspect traveled on foot the entire time he moved between and when he left the bomb sites. Iannarelli believes this decision was likely intentional, as taking a taxi or Uber would have left a trail that officers could have followed to find whoever was responsible.
Why hasn't the person responsible been found?
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According to Iannarelli, the FBI likely devoted all its resources and efforts to finding whoever was responsible in the days after the riot at the Capitol.
“I'm sure they did everything that could be done. That includes recovering surveillance video. A common practice for me was to knock on doors looking for people who had cameras that we could get pictures of," he added. "I'm sure they did all of that at the time."
He also commented that the FBI has already performed DNA analysis to compare any DNA recovered from the bombs with DNA already listed in criminal databases. Since no arrests have yet been made, Iannarelli believes the FBI either found no DNA evidence on the bombs or that the DNA found did not match any listed individuals.
Short of a big discovery in physical or digital evidence, the FBI now relies on tips it receives from the public to help it find the culprit.
“I'm sure the agents and the investigating officers have already talked to everyone who was in that area or lives or works in that area and might have seen something,” he said.
An FBI press release issued in September urged anyone with information about who was responsible to come forward. In addition, the FBI, along with the ATF, is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the identification of the perpetrator.
Iannarelli noted that, even with a reward, some cases remain unsolved for years until the public leads them to reopen them. He concluded that he believes that "law enforcement is looking for that opportunity."
“The lack of arrests so far should not be interpreted as 'this is not a priority.' No case at the FBI is closed until there is a reason to close it," Iannarelli said. “In this case, it would be the arrest of the person who planted the bombs. Then it will remain open and remain active until the person is captured and brought to justice."
Conservative conspiracy theories
In the wake of the riots on Capitol Hill, some conservative media figures and lawmakers have attempted to create alternative narratives about what happened on January 6. Despite hours of video evidence and mountains of photographic evidence showing Trump supporters storming the Capitol, some lawmakers including Congressman Andrew Clyde have suggested the media is exaggerating the attack. He equated the riots with a "normal tourist visit."
The right's attempt to rewrite the narrative of January 6th has also engrossed the person responsible for planting the pipe bombs in DC.
In December, Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who produced an entire conspiracy-theory documentary dedicated to reframing the Capitol riots as a false flag operation masterminded by Capitol Police and the FBI, accused the committee select House investigating the attack to refuse to acknowledge the importance of the person responsible for planting the bombs.
He claimed in December that the committee “stopped talking about this person,” which is flimsy evidence, since little information is known about who is responsible for the committee to discuss.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is currently on a crusade to portray those accused of rioting at the Capitol as victims of unlawful imprisonment, also suggested the committee was ignoring who was responsible for planting the bombs.
“An individual planted pipe bombs at both the Democratic and Republican National Committee headquarters, targeting both political parties the night before the January 6 Capitol riot,” he wrote in a tweet. “Those should be the telephone records that are required by the courts. Why don't they care about the person responsible for planting the homemade bombs?
As Iannarelli noted, the perpetrator most likely did not have a cell phone with him on the day he planted the bombs, otherwise he would likely be in custody by now.
Donald Trump even weighed in on the whereabouts of the pipe bomber and alleged political loyalties in an interview with right-wing media figure Candace Owens.
He insisted that the plethora of cameras in downtown Washington, DC, should have captured numerous photos of the perpetrator, whom Trump refers to as “him,” though the gender of the perpetrator is currently unknown, and hinted that the FBI You probably know not only who is responsible, but also that the individual is a member of Antifa or Black Lives Matter.
“Why can't they find the person responsible for planting the homemade bombs and why haven't more people been discovered?” he questioned. "Because I think they were more than just, let's call them MAGA people... You have Black Lives Matter people and Antifa people, I had very little doubt about that, and they were antagonizing and they were inciting."
Trump lied. There is no evidence that people affiliated with Antifa or Black Lives Matter participated in the Capitol riots or planting the bombs.