Newly released footage shows the discovery of the pipe bomb that was planted outside the Democratic National Committee building on January 5, 2021, just hours before the election certification protests. The strange footage captures a shockingly nonchalant reaction from Secret Service and D.C. Metro Police personnel, with officers milling about despite the nature of the threat.
The seven-minute clip, which was released by U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), was broken down in a lengthy X thread by Revolver News founder Darren Beattie.
Around the 1:05 minute mark, a man in a backpack can be seen approaching a D.C. Metro Police SUV before informing them of the pipe bomb’s presence, which was found next to a bench outside the building. According to previous reporting from Blaze Media reporter Steve Baker, the man with the backpack has been identified as a plainclothes Capitol Police officer.
A black Secret Service SUV was parked directly next to the D.C. Metro Police SUV as well, as then Vice President-elect Kamala Harris at the DNC building at the time of the bomb’s discovery.
“After being informed of a pipe bomb feet away, the metro PD authorities (who are technically on the secret service detail) take over a minute before they even bother getting out of their car!” Beattie noted on X.
Both Secret Service and D.C. Metro Police personnel could then be seen standing around in a casual manner despite the fact that a supposed bomb was just discovered. “There’s absolutely zero concern for their own safety, or that of their protectee—VP Kamala Harris,” Beattie wrote.
The officers also failed or did not bother to halt passing pedestrians.
Eventually, someone manning Capitol Police surveillance cameras zoomed in on the benches where the pipe bomb was planted.
Beattie noted that a coffee cup can be seen on the bench right next to the pipe bomb, something he found highly unusual given the wind conditions that day. “January 6 was a very windy day and its unlikely an empty coffee cup would have lasted on that bench for long before getting blown away. Someone had been sitting there recently…perhaps the plainclothes officer?” he wrote.
Previously released footage of the pipe bomber — who has yet to be identified after three years — shows the suspect sitting on the same bench.
A previous analysis from Revolver News broke down several issues with the footage released by the FBI. The framerate of the footage provided is so low that it barely exceeds one frame per second. For comparison, the average gas station uses CCTV cameras that possess a framerate of roughly 15 frames per second (FPS), while high quality cameras process between 30 and 60 FPS.
A 2021 analysis on security camera frame rates found that zero percent of security cameras used in the U.S. have a frame rate below five FPS.
Elsewhere in the new footage, a group of children can be seen walking past the area while law enforcement personnel continue to display a lack of urgency or concern. “Either these secret service agents were utterly concerned with the life of their protectee Kamala Harris, the lives of the children, and their own lives, or they somehow knew the pipe bomb was a DUD,” Beattie wrote in an X post.
Minutes later, a police officer can be seen walking right up to the device, snapping a photo, then giving a “thumbs up.”
If the nonchalance of the Secret Service seemed weird before, now it gets downright scandalous.
In this clip we not only see a bunch of secret service agents standing in close proximity to the pipe bomb, we see a group of CHILDREN cross the street toward the location of the… pic.twitter.com/LXRO5BxLN3
— Darren J. Beattie 🌐 (@DarrenJBeattie) January 18, 2024
The FBI is currently offering a $500,000 reward for information about the alleged pipe bomber. Despite carrying out hundreds of no-knock raids for trespassing suspects, the bureau has been unable to locate the person who supposedly planted a bomb just yards away from the future vice president.
