Some time between 7:30 and 8:30 PM on January 5, a person wearing a gray hoodie and pricey Nike Air Max sneakers placed a pipe bomb on the bench outside the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. They placed another behind the HQ of the Republican National Committee. The discovery of those pipe bombs took place between noon and 1 PM the next day, making them a great distraction for police who were at that moment struggling to respond to Trump supporters smashing through security lines around the Capitol.
Though the primary purpose of those bombs might have been to draw police away from the Capitol, the devices themselves were quite real. Each was made from an 8-inch length of galvanized steel pipe, each contained a generous amount of black powder, and each included a kitchen timer that was designed to explode the device at … actually, that information has not been made public. Six months later, that pipe bomber has not been arrested. If there is an official suspect, that news has not been made public.