January 5th DC Bombing Analysis

https://www.dailyherald.com/storyimage/DA/20210111/news/301119880/EP/1/3/EP-301119880.jpg&updated=202101111820&imageversion=Facebook&exactH=630&exactW=1200&exactfit=crop&noborder — *DNC Pipe Bomb*

Background

On the evening of January 5th, 2021, an unknown suspect placed pipe bombs near the DC headquarters for the DNC (Democratic National Committee) and the RNC (Republican National Committee). Neither of the two bombs detonated, and the bombs were not discovered until the following day. Vice President Kamala Harris was in the DNC building for two hours when the bomb outside the DNC was located, and she was quickly evacuated. Important to note, Harris’ protection detail drove her within a few yards of the explosive device when it brought her to the DNC offices (1).

This attack preceded protests and the alleged “insurrection” at the Capitol the next day, January 6th. Both the DNC and RNC buildings are less than half a mile from the Capitol.

Bomb Details

Pictures of the device show a one hour kitchen timer wired to the pipe bomb (2). Presumably, after being placed, the suspect set the timer and the bomb would explode sometime within one hour, depending on what delay was set on the kitchen timer. According to the official timeline, the DNC bomb was placed on January 5th just before 8:00 pm (3). It was discovered on January 6th at 1:07pm. It was neutralized at 4:36pm (4). If the bomb was active and functional, it would have exploded well before it was disarmed.

The RNC explosive was similar in composition. It was placed sometime between 8:08 pm and 8:18 pm (5).

The FBI released a preliminary analysis on the devices stating the pipe bombs contained “a powdery substance consistent with the oxidizer potassium nitrate, the fuel sulfur, and a fuel consistent with charcoal,” which they described as a “low explosive black powder.” The piping itself was approximately 8 inches long, with an inner diameter of about 1 inch. Investigators said the “electronically activated fuzing system” of both explosives “consisted of a power source, conductors, switches, and a load.” One of the devices used a 9-volt battery with approximately 8.10 volts as its power source. “Both devices’ conductors consisted of three lengths of red insulated multi-strand wires, one length of black insulated multi-strand wire, a 9-volt snap connector, two paper clips, and six alligator clips (6).

CBS reporter Catherine Herridge said the FBI report showed no evidence of a secondary method of detonation, so the kitchen timer was the only method to detonate both of the devices (7).

Why Didn’t the Bombs Detonate?

This is the $100,000 question, and one that news agencies have had little interest in pursuing. The fact that two relatively simple pipe bombs didn’t detonate points to these explanations.

1. The Bombs Were Defective

These were metal pipes, filled with some type of black powder, using a simple kitchen timer to ignite a bundle of steel wool. While it is possible this system failed, it is unlikely this simple setup failed twice in a row. The batteries had sufficient charge to ignite something like steel wool and detonate the bombs. In fact, steel wool and black powder are used to make cheap rocket igniters (8), so this method of ignition is viable and typically requires only 3 volts, far less than the 8.1 volts measured across the battery on the DNC device.

Note: Battery information for the RNC device has not been released.

We know the bombs were not discovered until the afternoon of the following day, and the kitchen timers could be set to a maximum of 60 minutes. So if the bombs were set and functioned properly, they would have exploded. Neither did.

2. The Bombs Were Never Intended to Detonate

The alternative explanation is that these devices were never meant to detonate. The devices themselves may have been built to not detonate or the timers were not set.

Why would somebody build and place bombs they didn’t intend to detonate? In the history of bombing attacks this is unusual. Also, the suspect targeted the headquarters for both major political parties. This doesn’t appear to be a partisan attack of one party member versus another party. It is either someone disenchanted with the entire system or an attempt to make it appear as a radical right-wing terror attack that reasonable members of both political parties can rally against. More on that later.

More Problems With the Official Narrative

Security Failure

Vice President Harris traveled within a few yards of the DNC explosive device. Why has there been no investigation into this massive security failure? Both the DNC and RNC are less than ½ a mile from the US Capitol, so it seems like these areas should be regularly swept and secured by one of the 6 law enforcement agencies charged with securing the Capitol and protecting politicians (9). That didn’t happen. Why? Isn’t it standard practice for the Secret Service to sweep a building before taking the Vice President there?

There has been a heavily politicized investigation into the events of January 6th, complete with its own very detailed website. A search of the many press releases and documents on this site for anything related to bombs shows only a court document claiming the Oathkeepers intended to use pipe bombs on January 6th (which never happened) and a mention of the Oklahoma City bombing on the About page. I cannot locate any discussion of the pipe bombs emplaced on January 5th (10). Why in the world would members of Congress have no interest in investigating an attempt to bomb the DNC and RNC? If you believe the official narrative, this makes no sense!

To make matters worse, the FBI has now admitted it believed there were plans to commit acts of violence on January 6th (11, 12). Even if you don’t believe the FBI, if they internally held this assessment, they should have circulated that threat widely to local law enforcement.

The Capitol Police have also admitted they had prior intelligence that indicated potential threats, but did little to prepare or circulate their assessments (13). Why? If it was believed that the protests on and before January 6th would include acts of violence, why wasn’t there an increased police presence, security and other precautions? Again this does not jive with the official narrative.

Where is the Video?

The FBI says it has collected over 23,000 video files while investigating the attempted bombing (14). So far they have released four. Now it is a fair bet that most of the video evidence is just camera footage from the area around that evening and doesn’t include any notable footage of the suspect. However, out of 23,000 video files, it is reasonable to expect at least some of these contain more video of the suspect. Why haven’t they been released?

Cell Data?

In the videos the FBI has released (15), it appears as if the suspect is talking on their cell phone and at another point looking down at their cell phone while waiting on a bench. If the suspect carried a cell phone that was on, they could be tracked through the many cell towers in DC. The FBI has a timeline of when the suspect planted the bombs. This could easily be compared to cell geolocation records to determine who was in both areas around that time and generate a list of suspects. The FBI has not discussed this investigative avenue at all.

In contrast, the FBI did investigate people based on cell phone records for January 6th. The FBI apparently contacted people if their phones connected to the cell tower near the Capitol on the 6th of January (16).

It certainly appears as if the FBI has little interest in identifying the suspected bomber. Apparently Congress shares this lack of interest.

This Could Have Been Plan B

With the available evidence pointing to a government-staged bombing attack, what was the purpose? After all, the bombing has taken a backseat to the January 6th insurrection narrative. Congress is not investigating it, and media reports only brief updates on the case.

The bombing could have been a plan B. If the events if January 6th didn’t pan out for whatever reason, the attempted bombing of DNC and RNC would dominate the news cycle. It would be very easy to paint a picture that a violent Trump supporter initiated the pipe bomb attack, but failed due to their own incompetence. The bomber attacked both the RNC and DNC because they hate establishment republicans as much as they hate democrats, since many republicans fought Trump’s “racist” agenda all through his presidency.

This would have been a good backup plan to justify a government crackdown on right-wing extremism and delegitimize Trump supporters. But on January 6th, the storming of the Capitol was carried out, and this was quickly spun as an attempted “insurrection” so the bombing story just wasn’t useful. As for Congress, I expect most in congress do not know all the details of the bombing, but they have been quietly told the bombing attack was never a real threat, so they have expressed little interest in investigating it as it offers no potential for political gains. This is the best explanation I can engineer to explain the available evidence.