By Andrew Goudsward
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The FBI on Thursday released new surveillance video in a bid to reinvigorate its four-year-old hunt for a suspect who placed pipe bombs in Washington the night before the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol.
The previously unreleased footage from Jan. 5, 2021, showed an individual putting a bomb near a bench outside the Democratic National Committee building. The suspect placed another bomb at the Republican headquarters. Both sites are near the Capitol.
Police deactivated the bombs and neither exploded.
Despite receiving more than 600 tips and offering a $500,000 reward, the FBI has not been able to identify the suspect over the four years since the discovery of the bombs on the same day supporters of Donald Trump stormed Congress trying to stop it from certifying his 2020 election defeat.
“We’re really hoping we can jog someone’s memory,” David Sundberg, assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington field office, said in an interview. “We do believe there are people out there who do know more than has been shared.”
It is unclear if the bombs were linked to the Capitol riot, but their discovery nearby on Jan. 6, 2021 diverted police resources and remains one of the enduring mysteries of the day.
President-elect Trump’s 2024 election victory is set to be certified in Congress on Monday, before he is sworn in for a second term on Jan. 20.
The FBI said the suspect was about 5 feet 7 inches (1.7 m) tall and released a map of the individual’s walking route that night.
The suspect’s nondescript clothing, a gray sweatshirt and pants, and the 15-hour gap between the planting and the discovery of the bombs have impeded investigators.
The FBI has previously released other video of the suspect, who wore distinctive black and gray Nike Air Max Speed Turf shoes.
In the Jan. 6, 2021 melee at the Capitol, rioters surged past police barricades, assaulting about 140 officers and causing more than $2.8 million in damage. Trump has promised to pardon at least some of the nearly 1,600 people who have been criminally charged for participating in the riot.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Scott Malone and Cynthia Osterman)
