FBI releases new video footage of person placing pipe bombs near RNC and DNC headquarters before Capitol riot
By Christina Carrega, CNN
The FBI has released new video footage of a suspect accused of planting two pipe bombs near the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, DC, the night before the US Capitol riot.
The new information includes a virtual map that highlights the route the suspect walked while placing the two bombs between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on January 5, the night before the insurrection. Since then, the FBI has been unsuccessful in identifying the individual, despite a $100,000 reward being offered by the agency and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The video footage released Wednesday shows the suspect sitting on the bench near the DNC, in the area where the pipe bomb was later placed, according to the FBI.
“Reviews of the suspect’s behavior in video footage and interviews with residents in the Capitol Hill neighborhood have led the FBI to believe the suspect is not from the area,” according to a news release from the FBI Washington Field Office.
Previous images and video showed a person carrying a backpack in their hand and wearing a face mask, gray hooded sweatshirt and black and light grey Nike Air Max Speed Turf sneakers with a yellow logo.
CNN previously reported the devices had been rigged to egg timers and filled with an explosive powder. Officers from the ATF, FBI, US Capitol Police and DC Metropolitan Police had responded to the scene at the two offices, which are less than a quarter mile apart and just blocks south of the Capitol, and the bombs were safely detonated at the scene by robots.
The bombs were discovered within minutes of each other around 1 p.m. ET on January 6, just around the time that a mob of angry supporters of then-President Donald Trump descended on the building after a nearby rally with the President, according to an account the acting chief of the US Capitol gave to lawmakers in January and the FBI poster.
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CNN’s Josh Campbell contributed to this report.
