Hunt for the DC pipe bomber: FBI releases new photos of suspect who planted homemade explosives outside RNC and DNC headquarters while rioters stormed Capitol

Photos of the suspect or suspects believed to be behind the pipe bombs placed in Washington DC last week during the Capitol riots have been released by the FBI.

The bombs are believed to have been placed around the same time rioters stormed the Government building, sparking deadly clashes between MAGA supporters and Capitol police, and interrupting the official certification of Electoral College votes.

A $50,000 reward has been offered for any information that leads to the location, arrest or conviction of the individuals responsible for placing the suspected bombs on January 6.

One was placed at both the Republican and Democratic national committee offices in Washington DC. 

It is currently unclear whether the images released by the FBI show a single individual, or more than one person dressed in similar clothing. 

The FBI released a photograph last week showing an individual dressed in a grey sweatshirt, a hood over his head and a white mask hiding their face. They also wore dark gloves, sneakers, dark pants and a dark backpack. 

The FBI is offering $50,000 for information leading to the location, arrest & conviction of the person responsible for the pipe bombs found in Washington DC on January 6

Pictured: New pictures released by the FBI of a suspect believed to be involved in the placing of pipe bombs in Washington DC. The new images show details of the person's backpack and sneakers, after the first photo (far left) was released on Monday

An explosive device is shown outside of the Republican National Committee office, Wednesday, January 6 in Washington, as thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday

Photos released on Monday were zoomed in further to show more detail of the backpack and shoes being worn by the person in the photograph.

Posting on Twitter along with the new photo, the FBI asked anyone who may recognise the clothes to submit at tip the the organisation. 

With more protests planned and Biden's inauguration a little more than a week away, security experts and law enforcement officials are concerned about the potential for additional bomb threats or attacks on so-called soft targets in Washington, like museums and government buildings that don't have full security infrastructure like the White House does.

'It's not unusual that this is a prime target,' said Joseph Young, a professor of political violence, terrorism and homeland security at American University. 'If the target is really about the seat of power, then D.C. is more effective.'

'There are obviously other spots in D.C. that are high value because they bring such attention to whatever your issue or your cause is,' he said. 'That's the same reason people come to protest in D.C.'  

As thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, federal agents were working at the same time to detonate the two pipe bombs found just blocks away at the offices of the Republican and Democratic national committees.

Pictured: The FBI's poster seeing information about the suspect involved in leaving pipe bonbs in Washington DC during the Capitol riots on Wednesday

One pipe bomb was placed at both the Republican and Democratic national committee offices in Washington DC (shown on a map, with the Capitol building shown top-right

The focus on the insurrection shifted public attention away from the explosives threat - which experts say remains a primary concern for law enforcement ahead of next week's inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.

Investigators are increasingly worried about the potential for attacks on soft targets in the nation's capital.

The threat is substantial in Washington, where many government buildings, including the U.S. Capitol, are usually open to the public and thousands of tourists wander through massive museums and some of the most iconic monuments in the country at all hours of the day and night and can even get close to the White House.

It was around 12:45 p.m. on Wednesday when U.S. Capitol Police and agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were called to the Republican National Committee's office after a pipe bomb was found outside. 

About 30 minutes later, as the agents and bomb technicians were still investigating at the RNC, another call came in for a second, similar explosive device found at the Democratic National Committee headquarters nearby.

The two explosive devices were very similar, and both were about a foot long with end caps and wiring that appeared to be attached to a timer, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the matter. 

Supporters of President Donald Trump set off a fire extinguisher after breaching security defenses, as police move in on the rioters on the second floor of the U.S. Capitol

MAGA protesters were told by Trump and his allies to head to Capitol Hill where lawmakers were scheduled to confirm Biden's presidential victory

Investigators are still examining the devices and their components to determine the specific compounds inside the pipe bombs, but they both appeared to contain an unknown powder and some metal, the officials said.

The officials could not discuss an ongoing investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Investigators so far have few clues to go on - and the chaos from the riot at the Capitol didn't make their job any easier. They've released only a grainy image of a potential suspect from a surveillance camera. The image shows the person in a gray sweatshirt with a hood pulled over their head and a face mask, black pants and black gloves carrying a bag or suitcase.

Separately, while responding to calls about suspicious packages Wednesday, U.S. Capitol Police officers also discovered a suspicious red pickup truck with Alabama license plates near the Capitol, noticing the handle of a firearm on the right passenger seat, officials said. 

Officers ran the truck's plates and called in the Bomb Squad to investigate. When they searched the vehicle, they found an M4 Carbine rifle, loaded magazines and 11 Molotov cocktails made out of Mason jars and rags. 

Prosecutors described the items as something like 'homemade napalm bombs' and arrested the truck's owner, Lonnie Coffman of Falkville, Alabama. 

But they said Coffman is not suspected of leaving the bombs at the Republican and Democratic national committees. 

The bombs were reportedly placed as a violent mob stormed the Capitol, breaking through police barricades and smashing windows to enter the building.

Lawmakers were forced to go into hiding for several hours as Capitol police grappled to take back control while the mob defecated in the Senate and House, invaded Nancy Pelosi's office and looted items potentially including state secrets. 

One female Trump supporter, US Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt, was shot dead by Capitol Police as she tried to climb through a window. 

Three other Trump supporters died after 'medical emergencies' related to the breach and Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick died Thursday from injuries sustained in the attack after the thug allegedly hit him over the head with a fire extinguisher.   

Capitol riots: Who has been arrested so far?

Dozens of people have already been arrested and prosecutors across the U.S. have vowed to bring to justice those who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, sending lawmakers into hiding as they began their work to affirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory.

The group included white nationalists, neo-Nazis and QAnon conspiracy theorists, coming from states as far-flung as Arizona and Oregon, while photographs from the riot have shown people wearing clothes with a range of antisemitic messages and imagery. 

The former wife of retired Lt. Col Larry Rendall Brock Jr., 53, called the FBI's National Threat Operations Center Friday to report that she'd recognized her ex, who was pictured carrying plastic handcuffs and wearing full military gear.

Brock has since been arrested slapped with federal charges, as was an Nashville bartender, 30, who attended Capitol riot with his mom and was also pictured carrying zip-ties and wearing full paramilitary gear. 

Eric Munchel, a Nashville bartender, 30, has been named as the man pictured in the Senate press gallery with a bundle of flex-cuffs, heavy duty restraints used by law enforcement in mass arrests on Wednesday. He attended the riot with his mother.

News of the pair's arrests came on Sunday as Ryan McCarthy, Army Secretary, said that at least 25 domestic terrorist cases have been opened up following Wednesday's assault on the Capitol. 

Both men are charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Retired Lieutenant Colonel Larry Rendall Brock Jr., 53, (at the riots) was among the violent mob of Donald Trump supporters who stormed the US Capitol Wednesday in a riot that left five including one police officer dead 

Eric Munchel has been named as the man pictured with a bundle of flex-cuffs

Further arrests have also been made. 

One Trump supporter, who allegedly told his friends that he wanted to shoot and run over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has been arrested on federal charges stemming from the riot at the Capitol last week as authorities arrest an Alabama man with possessing 11 Molotov cocktails near the building.  

The Miami Herald reported that the man photographed standing at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's lectern was named Adam Johnson from Parrish Florida. The 36-year-old father of five posted on Facebook that he was in Washington, and was later arrested on a Federal warrant.

Another man, widely photographed wearing face paint, a horned, fur hat and extensive tattoos in the Senate chamber and the Capitol's corridors, was charged with counts including violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

He has been named as self-styled 'QAnnon shaman' Jacob Anthony Chansley of Arizona, more commonly known as Jake Angeli. 

A 41-year-old Iowa man named Doug Jensen, who was seen in videos chasing a black police officer up a flight of stairs, was jailed early Sunday on federal charges including trespassing and disorderly conduct.

Richard Barnett , of Arkansas, who was photographed sitting at a desk in Pelosi's office was also arrested

Richard Barnett, the Arkansas man shown in a widely seen photo sitting in Pelosi's office with his boots on the desk. He is charged with crimes including theft of public money, property or records

Jacob Anthony Chansley, the heavily-tattooed Trump supporter who sported horns, a fur hat and face paint as he occupied the Senate dais, was also arrested on Saturday

Defendants facing federal charges include Richard Barnett, the Arkansas man shown in a widely seen photo sitting in Pelosi's office with his boots on the desk. Barnett is charged with crimes including theft of public money, property or records.

Another man being tried in federal court, Lonnie Coffman of Falkville, Alabama, was arrested after authorities say they found guns and 11 Molotov cocktail explosive devices made out of Mason jars, golf tees and cloth rags in his pickup truck. 

West Virginia lawmaker Derrick Evans - who posted videos showing himself pushing hi way into the Capitol building - was arrested on Friday by the FBI and charged with entering restricted federal property.

Evans resigned from his position in a letter to West Virginia governor Jim Justice, apologising for his involvement. In his own livestream, he was seen joining Trump supporters rushing into the building, shouting 'Our house!' 

Rendall Brock, a father-of-three who now lives in Dallas, was pictured on the Senate floor Wednesday after the group had broken through barricades, pushed back law enforcement and sent lawmakers fleeing for safety.    

Images show him wearing a combat helmet, body armor and a vinyl tag with the Punisher skull on - a symbol adopted by white supremacists and believers of conspiracy theory QAnon.

Johnson, who was pictured inside the Capitol making off with a lectern, appears to have removed his social media platforms in the aftermath of the siege

He carried zip-tie handcuffs and appeared to be speaking with fellow rioters, several of which were dressed in MAGA caps.  

Brock, who was in the Air Force for more than two decades and now works for an aviation company, was also seen in footage, shot by ITV News, appearing to exit Nancy Pelosi's office - which was vandalized and looted in the chaos. 

'It is alleged that Brock was identified as one of the individuals who unlawfully entered the US Capitol,' a DoJ statement said.

Eric Munchel, 30, is pictured in his mugshot having been arrested in Nashville on Sunday

It added he had been 'wearing a green helmet, green tactical vest with patches, black and camo jacket, and beige pants holding a white flex cuff, which is used by law enforcement to restrain and/or detain subjects'.        

Bartender Munchel told The Times of London: 'We wanted to show that we're willing to rise up, band together and fight if necessary. Same as our forefathers, who established this country in 1776. It was a kind of flexing of muscles.'

His mother, Lisa Eisenhart, 57, said: 'The left has everything: the media, organizations, the government. We have to organize if we're going to fight back and be heard.'

The nurse, who wore a bullet proof vest like her son, added: 'This country was founded on revolution. If they're going to take every legitimate means from us, and we can't even express ourselves on the internet, we won't even be able to speak freely, what is America for?

'I'd rather die as a 57-year-old woman than live under oppression. I'd rather die and would rather fight.' 

The pair are said to have driven from Nashville, Tennessee for the protest.    

Brock, 53, has already admitted he invaded the Senate floor and roamed Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office dressed in combat gear and carrying zip-tie cuffs. 

But he told The New Yorker he thought he was welcome to enter the U.S. Capitol and claimed he 'found' the zip ties on the floor and merely picked them up so he could hand them in to a police officer. 

The FBI is said to be investigating whether any of Trump's supporters who attacked the U.S. Capitol were conspiring to hurt lawmakers or take them hostage. 

This image released by the FBI on January 8, 2021, shows protesters in the US Capitol on January 6, in Washington, DC

'We're not looking at this as a grand conspiracy, but we are interested in learning what people would do with things like zip ties,' a law enforcement official told The Washington Post.

The FBI has asked for help in tracking down those responsible for 'rioting and violence' in the Capitol, with some of the mob already identified online. 

The top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia has said 'all options are on the table' for charging the rioters, many of whom were egged on by President Donald Trump's speech hours earlier at a rally over his election loss. 

Trump addressed his thousands of his supporters near the White House Wednesday at his 'Save America' rally and declared war on his own party, calling Republicans who opposed him 'weak'

Investigators are combing through photos, videos and tips from the public to track down members of the violent mob.

A Capitol Police officer died after he was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher as rioters descended on the building and many other officers were injured. 

A woman from California was shot to death by Capitol Police and three other people died after medical emergencies during the chaos. 

The U.S. attorney's office for D.C., which handles both local and federal cases in the district, had filed 17 cases in federal court and at least 40 others in the Superior Court by Saturday. 

The cases in Superior Court mainly have to do with things like curfew violations and gun crimes. 

Those being tried in federal court, where prosecutors can generally secure longer sentences, are charged with things like violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, assaulting a federal law enforcement officer and threatening House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Prosecutors say these charges are just the beginning. Authorities said Friday that said additional cases remained under seal and dozens of other people were being sought by federal agents.

US attorneys in several states, including Kentucky, Ohio and Oregon, said people could face charges in their home states if they traveled to Washington and took part in the riot. 

Investigators will also consider whether there was any concerted plot targeting Vice President Mike Pence, who enraged Trump and his loyalists by refusing to illegally intervene in Congress to overthrow the election.