They are looking for the suspect who planted bombs in the headquarters of both parties a day before the assault on the Capitol

On the night before Joe Biden was formally declared President of the United States by Congress on January 6, millions of Americans dined and prepared to sleep peacefully in their homes, never imagining that a man was planting pipe bombs nearby. from the headquarters of the national committees of the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, a few blocks from the Capitol.

The FBI released images of the explosive devices and the suspect not yet identified by authorities on Friday.

The reward is increased to $ 100,000

for anyone who can provide important information about the man seen in the images captured by surveillance cameras.

Federal authorities provided further details of the investigation while

showing photos of the man

who, wearing a gray hooded sweater and yellow, black and gray Nike Air Max Speed ​​Turf shoes, was suspiciously walking with a backpack around the National Committee building. Republican on the eve of the assault on the Capitol, which occurred on January 6.

The bombs are presumed to have been planted between 7:30 PM and 8:30 PM ET on January 5, although they were found at 1:00 PM the following day.

Both devices were safely detonated by robots at the scene.

[This is how the assault on the Capitol in Washington DC was experienced]

The artifacts found were 20 centimeters long

and were made from galvanized steel.

They were crammed with gunpowder and had timers, an official with knowledge of the investigations, which are being conducted at the FBI laboratory in Virginia, told CNN.

The discovery of the bombs coincided with the timing of the attack by radical supporters of Donald Trump on Congress, according to testimony given by the acting head of the US Capitol to lawmakers and the FBI.

In this context, investigators are considering the possibility that the bombs were part of a

plan to divert the attention of the security forces

, when the affections of Trump stormed the Capitol.

The artifact that was found next to the offices of the Republican National Committee was discovered by a 36-year-old woman returning from the laundry.

"I looked down out of sheer luck

," Karlin Younger told the Wisconsin State Journal.

"And I noticed that next to the recycle bin there was a tangle of cables."

This is how the assault on the Capitol in Washington DC was experienced

Jan. 7, 202103: 48

The reason the devices did not explode is

still

unknown

, the official told CNN earlier this week.

One hypothesis that is handled is that the timers were incorrectly set.

Another is that the batteries may have been misconnected.

Agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Snuff, Firearms and Explosives (ATF, for its acronym in English), the FBI, police in the Capitol and the Metropolitan Police of Washington DC

have been investigated in the places where they found the bombs

, which are less than 400 meters away and a few blocks south of the Capitol.

[The heroic act of a policeman who averted a major disaster during the attack on the Capitol]

The FBI and ATF had previously increased the reward from $ 50,000 to $ 75,000, but the new increase confirms the urgency with which the Justice Department is treating this angle of the investigation, which has been overshadowed by the violent insurrection on Capitol Hill. .

However, finding the person suspected of planting both bombs remains a priority for federal authorities, who

have

already

questioned more than 1,000 residents

and business owners in the neighborhood where the devices were installed.

With information from CNN and The Washington Post.