I mean, they have lots of practice...
January 6 Pipe Bombs Get Curiouser and Curiouser
January 6 Pipe Bombs Get Curiouser and Curiouser
Pipe bombs were planted on the night of January 5, at the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Democratic National Committee (DNC),
according to the FBI.
Or were they?
As evidence this occurred, the FBI released surveillance videos showing a suspect, a man wearing a hoodie, carrying a backpack, walking by the RNC bomb site and sitting on a bench next to the DNC, between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. the night of January 5.
The pipe bombs had 60-minute kitchen
timers, which means had they been armed and viable they would have detonated before 9:30 p.m. on January 5. But they didn’t. Both could have been duds. Or they could have been constructed for other purposes.
Here’s what we know. The first bomb was discovered on January 6 by
Karlin Younger, who lives next to the RNC, which lies a couple blocks from the Capitol. After placing a load of laundry in a dryer, she exited the back of her building and, while making her way to the front, she saw what she believed might be a pipe bomb at 12:40 p.m.
Kalin alerted a guard at the front of the RNC. He verified the device was likely a bomb and then alerted authorities.
Information about the explosive device reached the Capitol Police (the law enforcement department that protects members of Congress) at 12:52 p.m. It “responded immediately to coordinate and send resources to the bomb site, including a number of officers, officials, and a bomb squad,” according to
Congressional testimony by then Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund.
A Capitol Police statement said the department also dispatched
three Counter-Surveillance Units (CSUs), two-man teams, to the area to
search for other explosive devices. At least one CSU went to the RNC, apparently to gather information about the pipe bomb. It then drove to the DNC, according to the Capitol Police.
And here’s where things get weird.
About an hour before Karlin found the pipe bomb, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris
traveled to the DNC to use its recording studio to tape messages to send to political supporters. Prior to her arrival, the Secret Service conducted a
security sweep and did not find a bomb. Had they done so, Harris never would have been brought to the DNC and word of the explosive device would have been made public.
The Capitol Police counter-surveillance team showed up at the DNC, which would have had a perimeter defense set up by the Secret Service. The counter-surveillance team would have had to have explain why they were there and what their business was.
Imagine the astonishment of Secret Service agents when they learned the CSU had traveled to the DNC to search the grounds for a possible pipe bomb.
Knowing the DNC grounds were clean, the Secret Service gave a green light to the SCU to search for an explosive device. Just minutes after they
began to investigate at 1:07 pm, lo and behold, the SCU “found” a pipe bomb that was in plain sight at the base of a bench, alongside the building. At 1:14 pm,
Vice President-elect Harris was evacuated from the DNC
How could this have happened? It’s inexplicable the Secret Service would have failed to find the pipe bomb during its security sweep.
One possible explanation is that the pipe bomb never was planted at the DNC the night of January 5. The device was placed near the bench sometime after the security sweep. When the CSU “found” a pipe bomb, the Secret Service agents must have been thunderstruck.
Or maybe not.
That the Secret Service had conducted a comprehensive security sweep of the DNC and failed to find a readily visible bomb should have sent alarm bells ringing. But the agency said nothing. Did the Secret Service knowingly turn a blind eye to the pipe bomb? Did it allow the CSU to search the DNC premises knowing the counter-surveillance team would “find” an explosive device by the bench?
There’s a simple way to answer these and other questions about suspicious activities at the DNC.
The DNC has two CCTV cameras that surveil the area where the pipe bomb was planted. Making the recordings public from these cameras on January 5 and 6 would make clear what actually happened.
Surveillance Recordings Not Made Public
The FBI could have released video from one of the CCTV cameras at the DNC, showing whether or not the alleged bomber had placed an explosive device by a bench on the night of January 5.
But it didn’t.
Instead, it distributed video from the camera that has an obstructed view of the alleged bomber. The man’s lower body is not visible due to a bush, which makes it impossible to determine if he placed anything near the base of a bench.
Coordinated Attack
The pipe bombs caused several things to occur. They
siphoned away security resources from the Capitol, and increased the security issues that had to be handled, distracting the police from managing events on the Capitol grounds. In the escalating mayhem, the weakened police force could not contain the unruly protestors, who broke into the Capitol and entered the building.
Democrats contend the riot at the Capitol was an insurrection. But in a real insurrection, the invaders seek to ignite a political rebellion and take control of a government.
The Trump supporters who went into the Capitol were unarmed and exhibited no interest in overthrowing the government. It’s nonsensical to believe they would have planted the pipe bombs to make it easier to gain entrance into the building, so they could stroll around for a few hours, and then leave.
Alternatively, the pipe bombs could have been integral to a political sting designed to counter the massive pro-Trump rally by turning it into a debacle.
The plan? Plant undercover activists to incite the crowd of Trump supporters, place pipe bombs at nearby venues to draw security forces away from the Capitol, revealing their presence at the same time protestors begin to push down police barriers, creating an atmosphere of pandemonium and panic, making it possible for the protesters to overwhelm the police and allow undercover activists to break into the Capitol, opening the way for protestors to enter.
So, what actually happened?
Democratic National Committee
The events at the DNC provide valuable clues to determine which scenario took place. They appear to give evidence of collusion by three government agencies to manipulate events on the Capitol grounds on January 6.
- The FBI intentionally withheld video evidence that would show whether or not the alleged bomber planted an explosive device on January 5 at the DNC
- The Secret Service, in its security sweep, either: 1) found a pipe bomb and did not make the information public, or; 2) did not find a bomb and then remained silent after a device was “discovered” by the counter-surveillance team.
- The Capitol Police SCU that went to the DNC ignored the Secret Service security sweep, which did not find a bomb. The Secret Service allowed the team to conduct its own security search and minutes later a pipe bomb was “found.” The Secret Service did not report their failure to find a bomb in plain sight at the DNC, a massive security blunder, especially given Vice President-elect Harris was inside the building.
It's implied from the FBI videos of the alleged bomber on January 5 that pipe bombs were planted at the RNC and DNC. Karlin Younger discovered the bomb at the RNC at 12:40 p.m. And the combined actions of the FBI, Secret Service, and Capitol Police made it possible for the CDU to “find” the bomb at 1:07 p.m. at the DNC, just as activists began to push down police barriers on the Capitol grounds.