WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR)—More than 3 years after the Jan. 6 attack, there are still no answers as to who planted two pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee.
The questions surrounding that investigation were at the center of a hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday where lawmakers heard from several experts including a former assistant chief of the Capitol Police and a retired FBI special agent.
“As for the Jan. 6 suspect, it appears that there was a conscious effort to disguise that person’s identity, making personal identification difficult,” Former FBI Master Bomb Technician, Barry Black said.
Chairman of the House Administration’s Subcommittee on Oversight, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), said the purpose of the hearing was to assess how to improve security on Capitol Hill.
Loudermilk, who has challenged official accounts of the Jan. 6 attack, was accused by other committee members of questioning law enforcement’s response to the pipe bombs.
“This hearing is not about the FBI, nor its investigation. It’s about the response and the process of responding to three very dangerous devices that provide an imminent risk to people here at the Capitol,” Loudermilk said.
Despite the FBI releasing surveillance video of the pipe bomb suspect and offering a $500,000 reward, no one has been arrested.
“From what I’ve seen in the public record, it appears that the IEDs themselves were compromised of very simple, very common components that are available almost anywhere. That makes it difficult to trace the source of those components and thereby makes it difficult to determine who purchased those components,” Black said.
Officials said both pipe bombs were fully functional, but it’s not clear if they would have gone off on their own.
“The challenges faced by the Capitol Police Bomb Squad on that Jan. 6 event were extraordinary as they’re required to navigate the render safe of multiple devices,” CEO of the U.S. Bomb Technician Association, Sean Dennis said.
The FBI said its investigation is still ongoing and that a dedicated team has spent thousands of hours conducting interviews, reviewing video evidence and looking into tips.
More than 1,350 people have been criminally charged in connection to the Jan. 6 attack.
Source: Fox 8 News Channel
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