Former Capitol Police Officer Forensically Linked to Jan. 6 Pipe Bomber, Blaze News Reports
A former U.S. Capitol Police officer has been identified as a near-perfect forensic gait match for the elusive Jan. 6 pipe bomber, according to a sweeping Blaze News investigation that is shaking up the nearly five-year-old mystery.
Shauni Rae Kerkhoff, a 31-year-old former Capitol Police officer and current CIA security contractor, was identified by a gait analysis software program as a 94%–98% match to the masked suspect seen in surveillance footage placing pipe bombs near the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters the night before the Capitol riot. The analysis, which factored in variables such as stride length, speed, and knee flexion, was reviewed and confirmed by multiple intelligence sources familiar with the case.
Kerkhoff served in the Capitol Police from 2018 to mid-2021 and was part of the Civil Disturbance Unit. She was later captured on security footage using “less-lethal” crowd-control weapons against demonstrators on Jan. 6.
Sources close to a congressional Jan. 6 investigation told Blaze News that mounting evidence points to the possibility that law enforcement was involved in planting the bombs, raising new questions about a case the FBI has failed to resolve despite offering a $500,000 reward.
Former FBI agent Kyle Seraphin, who was assigned to a surveillance operation near the suspect’s Falls Church, Virginia, location just days after Jan. 6, said his team was inexplicably pulled off the case, calling it “a cover-up since day one.”
The FBI reportedly tracked a SmarTrip transit card linked to the suspect and tied it to an Air Force civilian employee, but concluded he did not use the card himself. The person who picked up the bomber was also reportedly under surveillance.
Kerkhoff’s slight limp, athletic background, and 5’7” frame were key elements in the gait analysis, which used Capitol Police video and footage of her playing Division I soccer to compare with the pipe-bomb suspect. She had suffered a severe leg injury in 2015 while playing goalie for Temple University, requiring five hours of surgery and leaving her with a permanent limp.
Surveillance footage from Jan. 5 shows the bomber placing the device behind the Capitol Hill Club around 8:16 p.m. Another bomb was later discovered near the DNC building the next day — diverting security resources just minutes before protestors breached the Capitol perimeter. Critics say the distraction appears highly calculated.
Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund denied any prior knowledge of officer involvement in the bombings and said there would be no authorized reason for an officer to plant devices.
The new findings also resurrect criticism of the FBI’s slow progress. Despite its sprawling investigation into Jan. 6 that led to hundreds of arrests, the FBI has failed to name or charge a suspect in the pipe-bomb case. Footage showing Secret Service agents behaving casually after being informed of the DNC bomb — eating lunch in their vehicle and allowing pedestrians to pass nearby — has raised further skepticism.
Blaze News said it used clearer video than the FBI’s public footage, which had allegedly been manipulated to reduce frame rates. Independent researcher “Armitas,” who helped uncover inconsistencies, said he believes the DNC device was removed and replaced to coincide with its “discovery” just after 1 p.m. on Jan. 6.
The implications of a law enforcement officer being behind the bombings would undercut the prevailing media and government narrative that only Trump supporters posed a threat that day. Critics are now asking whether the FBI withheld key leads or misled the public about what it knew — and when.
Former FBI Director Christopher Wray and other Biden officials have long framed Jan. 6 as the work of right-wing “domestic violent extremists.” But Republicans like Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) have repeatedly demanded transparency over the pipe bombs and criticized Wray’s evasiveness.
If the Blaze News investigation proves accurate, the revelation could trigger new congressional hearings and a public reevaluation of what really happened on Jan. 6 — and who might have helped engineer the chaos.