Capitol Police interacted with suspect during Jan. 5 pipe-bomb drop, video shows

Capitol Police officers met the hoodie-wearing person suspected of planting a pipe bomb near the Republican National Committee office during the alleged bomb-drop operation but did not detain or arrest the person, Blaze News has learned.

Despite apparently having the suspect next to two squad cars for nearly three minutes on Jan. 5, 2021, the officers did not detain or arrest the alleged bomber and allowed the person to go back to the crime scene and ostensibly finish the bomb drop, previously undisclosed security video shows.

Apparent police interactions with the bomber were never disclosed by Capitol Police or the FBI, which has failed to identify the suspect despite nearly 44 months of investigation and a $500,000 reward.

The bombshell video was discovered and assembled by social media user “Armitas,” who shared the findings exclusively with Blaze News. Armitas asked to remain anonymous. Blaze News has confirmed the individual’s findings using Capitol Police CCTV files made public over the past several months by the Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight.

The video discovery raises serious questions about what was discussed during the nearly three-minute apparent meeting between police and the alleged bomber — and why the officers didn’t detain the person or publicly report the incident after the RNC bomb was found the next day.

'I see no possible non-nefarious scenario in what I just saw.'

It also raises the question of why the FBI never shared the video with its own agents or the public and did not disclose or explain the bomber’s seeming interaction with Capitol Police.

“I see no possible non-nefarious scenario in what I just saw,” said former FBI Special Agent Kyle Seraphin, who worked on the bomber case in 2021 but was pulled off the assignment as his surveillance team was closing in on someone possibly linked to the hoodied suspect. Seraphin said he was never shown the video while working on the case.

Blaze News shared the video with Seraphin and asked for his analysis.

The video from Armitas and subsequent investigation by Blaze News showed the alleged bomber emerged onto First Street Southeast from an alley between the Capitol Hill Club and the Republican National Committee at 8:14 p.m. Jan. 5.

The suspect walked north past the Capitol Hill Club. As the individual passed under the restaurant’s green awning at 8:14:30 p.m., a Capitol Police SUV turned the corner onto First Street. The alleged bomber waved at the squad car and then pointed — it appeared — at the driver as the vehicle passed by.

- YouTube youtu.be

The new video is much clearer than the grainy security footage from the Capitol Hill Club previously released by the FBI.

The suspicious gesture was “too long to acknowledge someone you don’t know,” Seraphin said. “And why would you draw attention to yourself like that if you’re carrying a bomb in your backpack?”

Seraphin likened the gesture to an acknowledgment one law enforcement officer would offer another upon passing during a shift change, or the recognition of a buddy on the street during a tour of duty.

As the suspect turned east onto C Street, three Capitol Police officers were across the street near the entry to the Library of Congress, security video showed. The suspect appeared to cover his or her face with the left arm. The officers stood in the street near the curb for a time but gave no indication that they saw or were suspicious of the hoodie-clad individual.

The alleged bomber walked east and stopped at the entry to Rumsey Court, which runs south from C Street. During a brief pause, what appeared to be the same Capitol Police SUV drove up C Street from the east and pulled over directly across from the hoodied suspect.

The officer turned on the vehicle’s red and blue emergency lights at at 8:15:44 p.m., just as the bomber turned and walked south down the Rumsey alley and disappeared from view, security video showed.

CCTV zooms in

At 8:17:25, the Capitol Police command center began manually operating Camera 4471 at the corner of First and C streets. After zooming in and out several times, the camera captured a second Capitol Police squad car turn onto C Street from First at 8:18:04 p.m. and head toward the police SUV.

The command center kept the camera focused on the area of C Street and Rumsey Court for more than 15 minutes.

The squad car did a Y-turn and pulled to the curb behind the SUV. The second squad car then engaged its emergency lights.

Seraphin said the actions of the Capitol Police squad cars were in effect a “blocking” maneuver.

“I see a ‘blocking vehicle,’ then they acknowledge [the suspect] and circle black to set up a blocking position,” Seraphin said. “The other vehicle then doubles back to assist.”

The squad cars had their emergency lights on when the hoodied suspect apparently emerged from the alley at 8:19:57 p.m. and crossed the street to where the police were parked, video showed.

'It’s a black pipe-bomb-looking device with a timer attached to it and wires.'

The suspect was hidden from camera view for nearly three minutes behind the blinding strobe headlights and emergency beams of the squad cars. At 8:22:53 p.m., the apparent suspect emerged from the spread of light and crossed the street again. The individual was last seen on the security video at 8:23:08 p.m. as he or she walked down the alley a second time.

The bombing suspect did not re-emerge, the video showed. The two squad cars remained parked near the alley, one with its emergency lights still on, for another seven minutes.

At 8:30 p.m., the driver of the police SUV walked in front of the vehicle’s headlights and got back into the squad car. Both vehicles pulled away at 8:30:29 p.m. The squad cars turned south onto First Street, then turned west onto D Street Southeast and disappeared from view at 8:31:36 p.m.

The Capitol Hill Club pipe bomb was discovered just prior to 12:43 p.m. on Jan. 6. A traffic officer put out an urgent broadcast.

“I have the head of security for the Republican Club comes up to me and he has what appears to be an explosive in the back of the building,” the officer said, according to Capitol Police dispatch audio. “Can you have some units respond?

“Sir, he took a picture of it. It looks like an explosive device,” the officer broadcast.

Another officer shortly provided more detail. “Advise HDU [Hazardous Devices Unit] I just saw a picture of the device. It’s a black pipe-bomb-looking device with a timer attached to it and wires,” he said.

- YouTube youtu.be

After discovery of the RNC bomb, Capitol Police sent counter-surveillance units out to search for other explosives at high-visibility potential targets. One of those officers discovered a second pipe bomb near a park bench behind the Democratic National Committee building at 1:05 p.m.

Security video shows that the hoodied suspect visited the DNC location first, passing that building's garage at 7:43:18 p.m. and leaving via the same sidewalk at 7:54:33 p.m.

The new security video showing interaction of the bomber with Capitol Police will only add to the growing list of questions about the pipe bombs.

As Blaze News reported Aug. 12, congressional investigators are examining the possibility that the DNC pipe bomb was planted at approximately 12:52 p.m. while Vice President-elect Kamala Harris was in the building.

Such a scenario would explain why the U.S. Secret Service did not discover the explosive, even though its sweep of the DNC building exterior was deemed substandard by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General in a report released Aug. 2.

While a bomb-sniffing dog was used near the garage entrance to the DNC prior to 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 6, the sweep did not include the immediate area around where the bomb was found.

The OIG report faulted the Secret Service for not having an explosives ordnance disposal unit present for its bomb sweeps or putting a technical expert on the scene who would have ensured proper bomb sweeps were done.

The FBI has insisted since the bomb investigation began that the pipe bombs were viable, but Seraphin said the briefing he received in the case in March 2021 described the devices as inert.

Man or woman bomber?

Seraphin said he and other case agents discussed the possibility that the hoodied suspect was a black woman, based on physical characteristics and case evidence. Seraphin’s investigative team was tracking an individual linked to a D.C. Metrorail card as a person of interest in the case.

Agents were investigating a 55-year-old Air Force contractor and his possible ties to the Metrorail card when they were pulled from the case. While the military contractor did not match the bomber’s physical description, Seraphin said the hoodied suspect could have been a relative or acquaintance.

Being pulled off the bomber case became a major reason Seraphin left his position with the FBI’s Washington field office. He moved to an office in New Mexico, where he became a whistleblower and was later suspended, he believes, for protected disclosures he made to Congress.

Seraphin said the new video discovery should increase pressure on Congress to bring in all officers connected to the Jan. 6 bomb response for sworn, transcribed interviews.

“All of the Secret Service, Metro PD, and Capitol Police present during the discovery and investigation of both pipe bombs should be subjected to sworn testimonies,” Seraphin said. “That has clearly not happened.”

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