The FBI is seeking tips from the public about a suspect who placed two pipe bombs near the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee in Washington, D.C., on the evening of Jan. 5, 2021.
In a statement on Wednesday, the bureau released never-before-seen videos that captured the unidentified person’s route and appearance. A $500,000 reward is being offered to anyone who has information on the suspect.
The case remains unsolved to this day.
The new footage filmed by security cameras on Jan. 5, 2021, shows the pipe bomb suspect planting a bomb outside the DNC at 7:54 p.m. and laying a second bomb outside the RNC at 8:16 p.m.
The bombs did not detonate, but as the FBI said last year, the explosive devices were “viable” and “could have seriously injured or killed innocent bystanders.” The bomb’s components were 1×8-inch threaded galvanized pipes, end caps, kitchen timers, wires, metal clips, and homemade black powder.
The person, about 5 feet 7 inches tall, was carrying a backpack and wearing a face mask, gray hooded sweatshirt, black gloves, and black and gray shoes with a yellow Nike logo. Under 25,000 shoes of that description were sold between August 2018 and January 2021, according to authorities.
The FBI and ATF are offering up to $490,000 for information leading to the location, arrest, and conviction of the person responsible. The Metropolitan Police Department is offering up to $10,000 as part of the reward, adding to the $500,000 total.
The events under investigation took place on the night before the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, when the pipe bombs were discovered. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who was the vice president-elect at the time, was evacuated from the DNC building when the first bomb was found.
Over four years later, the Jan. 6 Capitol riot is making headlines again after a man pardoned for his role in the riot was arrested for threatening to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
Christopher Moynihan was hit with a felony charge of making a terroristic threat. More than 1,500 people, including Moynihan, were arrested in 2021 after they were accused of entering the Capitol complex illegally and staging a riot.
At least 10 other Jan. 6 defendants have been rearrested, charged, or sentenced for other crimes since President Donald Trump pardoned them earlier this year, according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics.
The news comes as political violence is at the forefront of politicians’ minds following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last month. Both Democrats and Republicans continue to blame each other for politically charged rhetoric that may then lead to violence.
“I will tell you this, the violence on the Left is far more prevalent than the violence on the Right,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said on Tuesday when asked about the pardoned rioter who threatened Jeffries. “Don’t make me go through the list, you all know it. All of these assassinations, the assassination culture that’s been advanced now, this is the Left in almost every case that is advancing this and not the right.”