WASHINGTON (TNND) — After nearly five years, the FBI arrested a suspect on Thursday in connection with pipe bombs placed in Washington on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, a law enforcement official told multiple news outlets.
The official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the suspect is a man, but did not include the charges he may face, according to The Associated Press.
Pipe bombs were discovered on Jan. 5 near the offices of the Democratic and Republican national committees in the District of Columbia.
The devices were built with 1×8-inch threaded galvanized pipes, a kitchen timer and homemade black powder.
Then-Vice President-elect Kamala Harris was inside the DNC offices when the pipe bomb was discovered, the FBI said. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also passed by the bomb before it was found and removed.
The bureau released additional information last January, including an estimate that the suspect was about 5-foot-7, accompanied by unreleased video of the suspect placing one of the bombs.
Dan Bongino, the current FBI deputy director, floated the possibility last year before being tapped for his job that the act was an “inside job” and involved a “massive cover-up.”
But since arriving at the FBI in March, he has sought to deliver action to a restive base on the far right by promising that the pipe bombs investigation would be a top priority and defending the bureau’s work.
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“We brought in new personnel to take a look at the case, we flew in police officers and detectives working as TFOs (task force officers) to review FBI work, we conducted multiple internal reviews, held countless in person and SVTC meetings with investigative team members, we dramatically increased investigative resources, and we increased the public award for information in the case to utilize crowd-sourcing leads,” he wrote in a long post on X last month.