Investigators arrested a man on Thursday who the FBI believes planted pipe bombs the night before the January 6, 2021 US Capitol riot.
According to NBC News, two law enforcement sources say the arrest follows an almost five-year investigation to discover the identity of a man who has only been seen in grainy surveillance video. In the footage, the alleged pipe bomber was wearing a hoodie, face mask and gloves.
The FBI previously released video clips, showing an individual placing a pipe bomb outside the Democratic Committee premises. They also placed a second pipe bomb behind the RNC building a few blocks from the US Capitol. Then Vice President-elect Kamala Harris was apparently around 20 feet from the DNC bomb the next morning.
The discovery of the bombs diverted police away from the riot unfolding at the Capitol, shortly before crowds of Donald Trump supporters broken their way through police cordons to attack the Capitol building. Meanwhile, the timing of the bombs’ discovery helped to create conspiracies relating to the bombing suspect and their possible connection to the January 6 riot.
How we now know pipe bombs were an inside job.
Media has ghosted it
Kamala Harris never speaks of it
Bomb sniffing canines, multiple cops/security officers, passersby missed it
FBI never found suspect
And Bennie Thompson never investigated it on J6 committee pic.twitter.com/ngTrzkHsc3
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) August 15, 2024
Reportedly, FBI investigators have reviewed thousands of video files, together with scoured cell phone tower data and hundreds of tips. Among the data, the investigators examined sales of the black and gray Nike Air Max sneakers worn by the suspect. It turned out less than 25,000 of the shoes had been sold around the time of the planned bombing.
Investigators faced a number of challenges, including the poor surveillance video quality. Moreover, as it was during the COVID pandemic era, face masks were a common sight, plus, being a cold winter night, the suspect’s clothing didn’t seem remarkable to witnesses.
At the time, the FBI offered a $500,000 reward for information to assist investigators in identifying the suspect. Moreover, they conducted around a thousand interviews, but still struggled for years to identify the suspect who placed the crude pipe bombs on the night before President Donald Trump made his last-ditch attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
🚨 UPDATE: The individual linked to the Jan. 5, 2021 pipe bombs at the DNC and RNC
•A Virginia resident
•Now held by federal authorities
•Arrest made just within the past 90 minutes
He’s expected in court soon.
We’re finally learning who the pipe bomber is. pic.twitter.com/HMvgM51bO6
— ᴰⁱᵍⁱ Gal (@DigitalGalX) December 4, 2025
Meanwhile, investigators say the bombs were found around 15 hours after their placement, offering the suspect enough time to leave the area undetected. Moreover, the FBI investigation was hit by scrutiny under the Trump administration. This was due to some of the president’s allies being fixated on the bomber’s identity as proof that the January 6 Capitol riot was an “inside job.” Ironically, one of the allies, Dan Bongino, now works as the deputy director of the FBI.
In contact with NBC News, John Richter, the former Biden and Clinton staffer who was wrongfully questioned by the FBI about the January 6 riot, wrote that he has received many texts from friends joking about the arrest. “My phone is blowing up haha. Omg,” Richter texted.
