After nearly five years of investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States arrested a suspect on Thursday morning, December 4th. The individual is accused of placing pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Republican National Committee (GOP) offices on the eve of the Capitol Hill riot on January 6, 2021.
According to sources who spoke to CNN and Reuters, this arrest marks a significant breakthrough in this high-profile federal investigation, as the bombs were not detonated at the time. The FBI stated that had the bombs exploded, they would have caused harm to nearby individuals.
The suspect has been charged with placing bombs near the headquarters of both political parties in Washington D.C.
Law enforcement authorities have not yet determined the motive behind the incident, but sources suggest that the suspect has ties to anarchist ideologies.
Prior to the arrest, the FBI had offered a reward of $500,000 for any information leading to the apprehension of the suspect.
Surveillance footage revealed that on the evening of January 5, 2021, around 7:54 pm, the suspect placed the first bomb outside the DNC building; approximately 22 minutes later, another bomb was placed near the RNC office.
The bombs were swiftly deactivated shortly after their discovery, but they prompted law enforcement to respond urgently on the following morning, leading to the chaos that engulfed the Capitol Hill.
Images show the suspect wearing a mask, black gloves, and a gray hoodie, moving in the shadows. Despite years of scrutiny, the FBI had been unable to confirm the suspect’s identity or gender, estimating their height to be around 5 feet 7 inches (approximately 170 cm).
Although this case garnered significant attention, the suspect had evaded law enforcement pursuit for years. FBI Assistant Director Dan Bongino had harshly criticized the lackluster handling of the case, suggesting it was an “inside job” and that the failure to make an arrest was part of a “large-scale cover-up.”