The hunt for the rioters who stormed the Capitol building on Jan. 6 has continued six months after the event. The first rounds of arrests were focused on the easy targets, those who openly bragged about their actions. Still, now the Justice Department is focused on finding those more challenging to identify.
The Justice Department has already arrested 500 people who have pled guilty to their charges. But, among those who have not been arrested, the department will continue to look for the person responsible for planting two pipe bombs outside the Republican and Democratic national committees the night before the mele, as well as those who attacked law enforcement officers or issued violent threats to journalists.
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In one video that the FBI released, an unidentified man can be seen attacking an officer with a baton. Another shows a man ripping the gas mask off an officer who screamed in pain as the mob trampled over him in the doorway.
The FBI website asks for information about those involved in the riot and has over 900 pictures of roughly 300 people labeled “unidentified,” KETV reported.
There were very few arrests on Jan. 6 as authorities were trying to clear the building of the mob who attacked police officers. However, the FBI has received countless tips and pieces of digital media from the public to assist in arrests now.
The FBI has even begun to use “sedition hunters,” or armchair detectives who have teamed up to identify those who were at the riot but are not on record. In one photo, a unique iPhone case helped authorities identify one person in the mob.
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Forrest Rogers, a business consultant who helped form a group of hunters called the “Deep State Dogs,” said the group has been able to identify 100 suspects for the FBI. This is all from evidence the bureau has collected.
Some social media platforms have sent incriminating posts that defendants attempted to delete after realizing their celebratory posts of storming the Capitol could get them arrested.
Now the search will continue, and the FBI has offered up to $100,000 in rewards that lead to the arrest of a person responsible for planting the pipe bombs in Washington on Jan. 5.