January 6 Pipe Bomber Exposed as Capitol Police Insider with CIA Ties

Identifying the pipe bomber as a federal insider validates long-held doubts about the official narrative.

For nearly five years, the FBI had maintained a $500,000 reward for information on the hooded figure who planted two pipe bombs outside the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Republican National Committee (RNC) headquarters on the evening of January 5, 2021.

On November 8, 2025, Capitol events took a dramatic twist when investigative journalist Steve Baker of Blaze Media revealed the identity of the long-sought pipe bomber as Shauni Rae Kerkhoff, a former U.S. Capitol Police officer. Kerkhoff, then 27 years old and serving in the Capitol Police’s Civil Disturbance Unit, was allegedly caught red-handed through cutting-edge forensic gait analysis software that matched her walking pattern, distinctive limp from soccer injury obtained in 2015 (broken tibia), 5’ 7” height, to the suspect’s with a staggering 94-98% probability.

The first time the public heard Shauni Kerkhoff’s name was during her 2022 sworn testimony in the trial of protester Guy Reffitt, a moment now pivotal in the pipe-bomber case. She admitted personally firing dozens of pepper-ball projectiles from the Upper West Terrace, known as the crow’s nest. Kerkhoff’s role in the Capitol Police was no average assignment, from 2018 to mid 2021, she was a certified training officer specializing in less-lethal munitions including pepper balls and impact projectiles used to control crowds.

Surveillance recordings from January 6 reveal Kerkhoff and fellow officers deployed these very same weapons against protesters on the Capitol’s West Plaza just moments after the initial breach. This positioning placed her at the epicenter of the chaos, raising immediate questions about whether her expertise in crowd dispersal played a much larger scheme to escalate the day’s events. Insiders in the probe, including ex-FBI agent Kyle Seraphin, reveal the Bureau stationed surveillance teams one door down from Shauni Kerkhoff’s Alexandria, Virginia, home just days after January 6 only to yank them off the case without a word, raising red flags of deliberate obstruction.

The bombs themselves were rudimentary, constructed from one hour kitchen timers, fireworks powder, and everyday materials, these devices were concealed in an alley near the DNC around 7:45 p.m. on January 5, with the second placed near the RNC about 30 minutes later. A hooded figure in Nike apparel and a backpack, matching Kerkhoff’s 5’7” athletic frame and slight limp was captured on surveillance departing the scenes on foot. The pipe bombs were discovered early that afternoon, the RNC device around 12:40 p.m. by a Capitol Hill resident, and the DNC device around 1:07 p.m. by U.S. Capitol Police officers as crowds from the Stop the Steal rally began approaching the Capitol, creating a diversion that most now describe as a calculated false flag to justify an authoritarian response.

What elevates this to full blown conspiracy is Kerkhoff’s swift post January 6 career trajectory, just six months after the riot, she left the Capitol Police for a high-level security role at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), where sources say she joined dignitary protection teams safeguarding top officials, including CIA Director John Ratcliffe, alleged by anonymous intelligence sources, but, CIA explicitly contradicted the dignitary protection detail in a post-publication statement. The CIA confirmed to Blaze News that Kerkhoff works in campus security, but her rapid promotion has fueled speculation of a reward for services rendered. After leaving the Capitol Police in mid 2021 to join the CIA, Kerkhoff reportedly deleted her social media profiles.

Investigators traced the pipe bomber’s Metro SmarTrip card used January 5 - 6, 2021 to an Air Force civilian who lived next door to Kerkhoff in Alexandria, VA. Though the FBI interviewed and cleared the neighbor, they never followed the lead to her, per sources. Former FBI agent Kyle Seraphin, now a whistleblower, revealed his team was surveilling that same address days after the protest, only to be abruptly pulled without explanation. He calls it part of a broader cover-up, including the FBI’s 2023 claim that key bomb-site video had become corrupted and unusable. The allegations align with congressional probes led by Reps. Jim Jordan and Barry Loudermilk, who have accused the Bureau of stonewalling the pipe bomb investigation while aggressively prosecuting over 1,400 January 6 defendants.

The pipe bombs were discovered at the perfect moment for anyone eager to brand January 6 as an insurrection. As the devices were neutralized by bomb squads, the Capitol breach unfolded around 12:53 p.m., lasting roughly 3 hours before clearance. Critics argue this duration was no accident but a scripted window allowing maximum disruption.

Evidence from unaired HBO footage shot by Alexandra Pelosi shows then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi coordinating with aides and governors, but in a manner that suggests prior knowledge of security lapses. Pelosi’s office was directly involved in editing Capitol security plans, texts and emails revealed, including decisions that left the building vulnerable despite warnings of planned demonstrations as early as the middle of December 2020.

Pelosi’s team suppressed evidence contradicting the official narrative including her own admissions of responsibility for security failures. Her frustration in the footage, questioning National Guard delays, has been recast by investigators as performative theater. As Speaker, she controlled the House Sergeant at Arms yet authorized no preemptive reinforcements. This oversight, combined with the pipe bombs’ diversion of resources, points to orchestration at the highest levels.

House Administration Committee releases confirm the suppression of that same evidence. For years, critics have accused Pelosi of deliberately orchestrating the understaffing of Capitol security to create a vulnerability. She then squandered millions in taxpayer dollars on a year long, blatantly one-sided select committee to push that narrative.

The FBI’s fingerprints are all over the operation. Undercover agents embedded in the crowd, over 274 by some counts, monitored, rather than mitigated violence, while the pipe bomb investigation faded. A 2024 DOJ report routinely touted by mainstream media absolves the FBI of any role in inciting January 6, yet whistleblowers such as formerFBI agent Kyle Seraphin expose what they describe as calculated inaction designed to allow the unrest to escalate. That three hour delay gave protestors ample time to be captured on camera fueling years of selective prosecutions while the real instigators, insiders, like Kerkhoff, quietly slid into plush federal jobs. These findings now mutter of law enforcement involvement in planting the bombs, a thread pulling apart the entire sham of the January 6 tapestry.

Kerkhoff’s athletic background adds another layer of intrigue. A former Division I soccer player from Temple University, her gait analyzed via Capitol Police CCTV and unedited alley footage betrayed her unique stride, including knee flexion and hip extension variances that software couldn’t ignore. Blaze News approached intelligence officials weeks ago with this evidence, only to face delays pending a national security review. Her residence was under watch on November 7, 2025, with Blaze editor Christopher Bedford pulled over by police for merely observing. This heavy-handed response screams protection of an asset, not pursuit of justice.

The implications ruffle far beyond one officer’s alleged misdeeds. If Kerkhoff, a Capitol Police veteran turned CIA protector, planted those bombs, it exposes a deep-state playbook staged crisis, blame the opposition, and bury the truth under layers of bureaucracy. House GOP hearings, including a January 6, 2025, session on bomb-handling delays, are ramping up, with over 200 FBI probes still active on peripheral cases. As public outrage builds, the Kerkhoff revelation isn’t just a bombshell, it’s the detonator for dismantling the January 6 myth.

Ultimately, identifying the pipe bomber as a federal insider validates long-held doubts about the official narrative. These findings vindicate years of skepticism. From Pelosi’s Capitol security meddling to FBI cover-ups, the orchestrated three hour spectacle was never about a stolen election rally gone wrong, complete with embedded film crews and high-level coordination. With Kerkhoff now in a secure CIA position, the irony is crude. Americans must insist on full transparency and accountability, or the next engineered crisis will exact a far greater cost. The buried facts are now erupting into daylight and are no longer containable.