After failing for four years to track down DC pipe bomber, FBI hopes there’s a new person willing to talk

(CNN) — After four unsuccessful years trying to identify the person who placed two viable pipe bombs near the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters, the FBI is hoping that allegiances have changed and someone is ready to talk.

Despite well-publicized photos of a suspect wearing a hoodie and facemask, a substantial reward and a thousand interviews, the FBI has still been unable to determine who placed the pipe bombs on January 5, 2021, the night before then-President Donald Trump would make his last-ditch effort to overturn the 2020 election.

The FBI on Thursday released new video angles of the suspect near both locations as well as a new height estimate, five feet and seven inches, of the person – who wore a hoodie and a mask the night they placed the bombs – hoping it may lead to more tips.

David Sundberg, the assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington, DC, field office, told CNN that perhaps people will look at the information or suspect in a different light in 2025 than they did previously.

“Maybe allegiances have changed or relationships have changed and it’s time to report” on the suspect, Sundberg said.

The videos show how the suspect moved around both party headquarters and eventually placed the bombs that evening.

In one video, the person stops on a residential street in Washington putting down their backpack and appears to put on a pair of glasses before scanning the surrounding area. Another video shows previously unreleased footage with a new angle of the person placing a bomb under a bench near the DNC.

“Tips from the public really have been very helpful but, as I mentioned, we’re still trying to identify the suspect. So we’re trying to release a little more information such that maybe it will jog somebody’s memory,” Sundberg said.

At the time, then Vice President elect Kamala Harris came within 20 feet of the bomb placed at the DNC. Both bombs were discovered 15 hours after they were placed, giving the suspect plenty of time to leave the area without being detected.

Sundberg said “there’s no doubt” both bombs were viable and noted that the FBI has reviewed 39,000 video files and sifted through more than 600 tips.

The FBI is also highlighting the suspect’s distinctive black and grey Nike Air Max shoes, of which 25,000 were sold at the time the bombs were placed.

When pressed on whether the case had gone cold since the FBI still didn’t know who the suspect was, whether it is a man or a woman, or many other details, Sundberg noted that the FBI has “a long memory, it’s got a long reach, and we will work these cases to their logical conclusion.”

“The case has been hampered by the difficulty in identifying the suspect,” Sundberg said. “You can see that in the video that the suspect is wearing a hood and mask and gloves, nearly entirely covered.”

Sundberg added that “the available surveillance camera footage in the area is a bit sporadic. It certainly is not all the same quality.”

The FBI, in combination with the ATF and others, is offering a substantial reward of up to $500,000 for information leading to the arrest of the suspect – one that has still not enticed the kind of tips the FBI needs to find the bomber.

Both bombs were discovered on January 6, 2021, drawing police attention as rioters overwhelmed officers at the US Capitol and began storming the building. Over 1,500 people have been charged in the attack, with nearly 600 being charged with assaulting or resisting officers that day. A federal case against Trump over his efforts to subvert the Electoral College was dropped following his 2024 presidential victory.

The-CNN-Wire
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