An investigative journalist claims gait-recognition software produced a 94–98% match between the January 6th pipe bomber and a Capitol Police officer who later joined the CIA — and that the man just arrested for the crime has the wrong shoe size and walks nothing like the bomber.
The Tucker Carlson Show
An investigative journalist claims gait-recognition software produced a 94–98% match between the January 6th pipe bomber and a Capitol Police officer who later joined the CIA — and that the man just arrested for the crime has the wrong shoe size and walks nothing like the bomber.
TL;DR
Tucker Carlson interviews investigative journalist Steve Baker, who spent five years investigating January 6th and the mysterious pipe bombs planted outside the RNC and DNC that morning. Baker argues the Capitol was a setup orchestrated by elements of the DoD, CIA, and Capitol Police — not the FBI — to destroy Trump's political future [1] — Steve Baker "Of the hundreds of thousands present on January 6th, only 80 to 100 people committed any violence at all. The media created a false impress…" 37:40 . He claims the pipe bomb devices were non-functional training props [2] — Steve Baker "An intelligence community expert with 30 years' experience in gait-recognition technology ran Baker's bomber footage against Shauni Kerkhof…" 1:38:20 , identifies a Capitol Police officer named Shauni Kerkhoff as the likely bomber based on gait recognition analysis yielding a 94–98% match [3] — Steve Baker "After thousands of hours reviewing pipe bomber footage, Baker's team spotted a smartwatch flashing on the bomber's wrist and identified at …" 1:46:00 , and reveals an HSI agent investigating the case was found dead before Thanksgiving under suspicious circumstances [4] — Steve Baker "The morning after Baker's story naming Kirkhoff as the suspected bomber was published, the CIA's chief public affairs officer called him fr…" 1:39:53 . The key takeaway: the arrest of Brian Cole Jr. may be a false confession from an autistic man with the wrong shoe size and an incompatible gait.
Steve Baker, investigative journalist, joins Tucker Carlson to lay out five years of investigation into January 6th and the mysterious pipe bombs planted outside the RNC and DNC. Baker argues the devices were inert training props, that the operation was coordinated by the Capitol Police and CIA, and that the recently arrested suspect Brian Cole Jr. is physically incapable of being the bomber. He names Capitol Police officer Shauni Kerkhoff — now a CIA employee — as the likely bomber based on 94–98% gait-recognition analysis.
Tucker Carlson opens the episode with a meditation on the information-overload age, arguing that massive stories explode and then vanish before they can be properly examined. He walks through the 2017 Las Vegas shooting — still officially unsolved in any satisfying way — as exhibit A. He then turns to January 6th, calling it the second most consequential event in American life after 9/11, and methodically dismantles the official narrative: no weapons, no armed insurrection, no murdered police officers, only one person shot — Ashli Babbitt, by Capitol Police officer Michael Byrd. He examines the strange anomalies: Ray Epps never charged, Nick Fuentes never charged, yet 1,500 others were. He lands on his central thesis: January 6th was not an insurrection against Congress, it was an insurrection by permanent Washington against the population — a bipartisan operation designed to destroy Trump. The pipe bomb mystery, he argues, is the clearest window into that wall of resistance [1] — Tucker Carlson "The true pattern across January 6th, the Las Vegas shooting, failed foreign policy, and economic mismanagement is not partisan gridlock but…" .
Tucker introduces Steve Baker, a journalist who was at the Capitol on January 6th, filmed the entire time with a press credential, and was later prosecuted for it. Baker opens with a crucial framing: he witnessed both bad and good actions that day, on both sides of the police line. He claims to have reviewed more J6 footage than any other journalist, working with teams to examine the most important portions of the roughly 41,000 hours of Capitol CCTV. He corrects two persistent myths: the right's claim that police waved people in (not true until after the breach) and the left's certainty that they understand what happened (they only saw a narrow battle scene repeated endlessly). His core thesis: January 6th was a setup designed and manipulated by elements of the Department of Defense, Capitol Police, and CIA to permanently remove Trump from politics — with the FBI brought in only later to protect the broader system [1] — Steve Baker "January 6th was engineered by elements of the Department of Defense, Capitol Police, and CIA to permanently destroy Trump's political caree…" 36:53 .
Baker details the systematic underpreparing of Capitol Police before January 6th. Frontline officers had their helmets collected two weeks earlier and were never told that six protest permits had been issued for the Capitol grounds. On a day policy required all-hands double-shift coverage, fewer than 250 of 2,000 uniformed officers were on duty. Baker describes standing at the front line filming young officers with fear in their eyes and no protective gear, facing a crowd of hundreds of thousands. He calls them sacrificial pawns — deployed to create a confrontation that would look like an insurrection. He notes Capitol Police Lieutenant Tarek Johnson called his wife to say goodbye, believing he was going to die. The Capitol Police's CDU and intelligence units, Baker argues, were running the operation from above, while the frontline officers were genuine victims of it [1] — Steve Baker "Capitol Police helmets collected 2 weeks before J6: Baker says Capitol Police frontline officers had their helmets collected and taken away…" 41:00 .
Baker details the hooded bomber's route on the night of January 5th, reconstructed from 21 minutes of Capitol CCTV footage his team harvested. The figure appears at 7:34 PM, plants both devices, and exits through a secret gate at 8:18 PM — a gate not visible on Google Maps and known only to residents and Capitol Police. The bomber also navigated blind spots in Capitol CCTV cameras that only Capitol Police would know about, and two marked Capitol Police cars briefly blinded cameras at the critical moment the bomber ducked into Rumsey Court. Most damning: the two undercover counter-surveillance officers deployed the next day to search for devices walked directly to the Congressional Black Caucus Institute bush and then the DNC bench — the only two places the bomber had stopped the previous night — without searching anywhere else. Baker concludes this was a Capitol Police operation, not a random act of domestic terrorism [1] — Steve Baker "Two Capitol Police undercover counter-surveillance officers deployed to find pipe bombs went directly and exclusively to the only two locat…" 1:17:30 .
Tucker closes by saying he's grateful Baker took the time and that he thinks it's important to get this story on tape. Baker agrees, invoking the concept of a dead man switch: with the HSI agent dead and Baker himself having suffered an acute heart failure in January, publishing the full account is the best protection he has. Tucker ends with a note that he'll see viewers next Wednesday and thanks Baker, wishing him Godspeed.
Chapter 1 · 00:00
Tucker Carlson opens the episode with a meditation on the information-overload age, arguing that massive stories explode and then vanish before they can be properly examined. He walks through the 2017 Las Vegas shooting — still officially unsolved in any satisfying way — as exhibit A. He then turns to January 6th, calling it the second most consequential event in American life after 9/11, and methodically dismantles the official narrative: no weapons, no armed insurrection, no murdered police officers, only one person shot — Ashli Babbitt, by Capitol Police officer Michael Byrd. He examines the strange anomalies: Ray Epps never charged, Nick Fuentes never charged, yet 1,500 others were. He lands on his central thesis: January 6th was not an insurrection against Congress, it was an insurrection by permanent Washington against the population — a bipartisan operation designed to destroy Trump. The pipe bomb mystery, he argues, is the clearest window into that wall of resistance [1] — Tucker Carlson "The true pattern across January 6th, the Las Vegas shooting, failed foreign policy, and economic mismanagement is not partisan gridlock but…" .
The true pattern across January 6th, the Las Vegas shooting, failed foreign policy, and economic mismanagement is not partisan gridlock but secret bipartisan consensus. The leaders of both parties share the same vision, act in agreement with each other, and close ranks whenever someone starts asking inconvenient questions.
Chapter 2 · 19:48
Tucker introduces Steve Baker, a journalist who was at the Capitol on January 6th, filmed the entire time with a press credential, and was later prosecuted for it. Baker opens with a crucial framing: he witnessed both bad and good actions that day, on both sides of the police line. He claims to have reviewed more J6 footage than any other journalist, working with teams to examine the most important portions of the roughly 41,000 hours of Capitol CCTV. He corrects two persistent myths: the right's claim that police waved people in (not true until after the breach) and the left's certainty that they understand what happened (they only saw a narrow battle scene repeated endlessly). His core thesis: January 6th was a setup designed and manipulated by elements of the Department of Defense, Capitol Police, and CIA to permanently remove Trump from politics — with the FBI brought in only later to protect the broader system [1] — Steve Baker "January 6th was engineered by elements of the Department of Defense, Capitol Police, and CIA to permanently destroy Trump's political caree…" 36:53 .
Plainclothes special operators from Task Force Orange — the most elite, non-existent unit in the US military — were embedded in the January 6th crowd on active duty orders. Newsweek confirmed this with the headline 'Secret Commandos with Shoot-to-Kill Orders at January 6th' — then the reporter later disavowed his own story.
Chapter 3 · 30:29
Baker details the systematic underpreparing of Capitol Police before January 6th. Frontline officers had their helmets collected two weeks earlier and were never told that six protest permits had been issued for the Capitol grounds. On a day policy required all-hands double-shift coverage, fewer than 250 of 2,000 uniformed officers were on duty. Baker describes standing at the front line filming young officers with fear in their eyes and no protective gear, facing a crowd of hundreds of thousands. He calls them sacrificial pawns — deployed to create a confrontation that would look like an insurrection. He notes Capitol Police Lieutenant Tarek Johnson called his wife to say goodbye, believing he was going to die. The Capitol Police's CDU and intelligence units, Baker argues, were running the operation from above, while the frontline officers were genuine victims of it [1] — Steve Baker "Capitol Police helmets collected 2 weeks before J6: Baker says Capitol Police frontline officers had their helmets collected and taken away…" 41:00 .
Claims made here
Newsweek published an article titled 'Secret Commandos with Shoot to Kill Orders at January 6th' on the first anniversary of January 6th, written by William Arkin, which remains online but which Arkin later privately denied ever happened.
Approximately 41,000 hours of Capitol security video exists from January 6th.
All seven doors breached at the Capitol on January 6th were breached from the inside by protesters who first entered through broken windows — not opened by Capitol Police.
Only 80 to 100 people committed any violence on January 6th out of hundreds of thousands present at the Capitol.
Capitol Police issued six permits for protests on Capitol grounds on January 6th but did not inform their own officers that such permits had been issued.
Baker says approximately 41,000 hours of Capitol security video exists from January 6th, more of which he has reviewed than any other journalist.
January 6th was engineered by elements of the Department of Defense, Capitol Police, and CIA to permanently destroy Trump's political career — not the FBI. Baker says a Tier 1 special operator watching his footage pointed out the same crowd-manipulation tactics used to start color revolutions overseas.
Of the hundreds of thousands present on January 6th, only 80 to 100 people committed any violence at all. The media created a false impression of mass violence by showing the same narrow battle-scene footage from different angles on repeat for five years.
Steve Baker estimates only 80 to 100 people committed any actual violence on January 6th out of hundreds of thousands present.
Baker says Capitol Police frontline officers had their helmets collected and taken away two weeks before January 6th, leaving them unprotected on the day.
Baker estimates between 400,000 and 600,000 people were at the Capitol on January 6th, far more than the press-reported figure of 30,000.
The DOJ initially threatened to charge Baker with interstate racketeering because he licensed his J6 videos to HBO and the New York Times. After a press offensive, they went silent for 20 months before arresting him on four misdemeanors — and the judge used the sentencing hearing to attack Baker's journalism rather than anything he did at the Capitol.
Chapter 4 · 56:48
Baker details the hooded bomber's route on the night of January 5th, reconstructed from 21 minutes of Capitol CCTV footage his team harvested. The figure appears at 7:34 PM, plants both devices, and exits through a secret gate at 8:18 PM — a gate not visible on Google Maps and known only to residents and Capitol Police. The bomber also navigated blind spots in Capitol CCTV cameras that only Capitol Police would know about, and two marked Capitol Police cars briefly blinded cameras at the critical moment the bomber ducked into Rumsey Court. Most damning: the two undercover counter-surveillance officers deployed the next day to search for devices walked directly to the Congressional Black Caucus Institute bush and then the DNC bench — the only two places the bomber had stopped the previous night — without searching anywhere else. Baker concludes this was a Capitol Police operation, not a random act of domestic terrorism [1] — Steve Baker "Two Capitol Police undercover counter-surveillance officers deployed to find pipe bombs went directly and exclusively to the only two locat…" 1:17:30 .
Claims made here
The January 6th pipe bomb devices were inert training props, confirmed by FBI whistleblowers and bomb experts who reviewed the FBI's forensic report.
Fewer than 250 of the Capitol Police's 2,000 uniformed officers were on duty on January 6th, despite department policy requiring all-hands double-shift coverage on First Amendment protest days.
Kamala Harris was inside the DNC when the pipe bomb was found outside, but this was not publicly revealed for a full year, when Politico reported it.
The FBI possessed 30,000 video files of the January 6th pipe bomber but released only approximately 30 seconds of footage publicly.
Autistic individuals give the highest rate of false confessions to law enforcement of any demographic group.
Congressman Loudermilk was required to agree not to investigate the Capitol Police as a condition of being allowed to continue his January 6th investigation.
Shauni Kerkhoff failed a four-hour FBI polygraph on questions related to the pipe bombings and was admonished by the examiner for giving rehearsed answers.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino called The Blaze's executives at least twice to complain about Baker and attempt to have him fired.
Intelligence community gait-recognition analysis produced a 94% software match and 98% human expert match between the hooded January 6th pipe bomber and Capitol Police officer Shauni Kerkhoff.
The January 6th pipe bomb devices were inert training props — not functional weapons. FBI agents assigned to the case were told by leadership the devices were inert, bomb experts who reviewed the FBI's own forensic report confirmed they matched training devices, and one whistleblower said they 'would have been bombs if they had been bombs.'
FBI agents tasked to the investigation were told the pipe bomb devices were inert, and bomb experts said they matched standard training devices.
Of 2,000 uniformed Capitol Police officers, fewer than 250 were on duty on January 6th despite standing department policy requiring all-hands coverage on First Amendment protest days.
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris was inside the DNC when the pipe bomb was found 10 feet away — yet it took a full year before Politico revealed she was even there. Secret Service agents sat in their SUVs finishing their sandwiches for two and a half minutes after being informed of the device, suggesting they were told it was a training exercise.
The FBI told a congressional committee it had 30,000 video files of the pipe bomber but released only about 30 seconds of footage publicly.
Two Capitol Police undercover counter-surveillance officers deployed to find pipe bombs went directly and exclusively to the only two locations where the hooded bomber had sat down the night before — without checking anywhere else. This is only possible if the same people who placed the devices were guiding the search.
Baker notes that autistic individuals statistically give the highest rate of false confessions to law enforcement of any demographic group.
Baker investigated a backpack-sized directed energy 'agitation weapon' used by Task Force Orange that a retired 3-star SOCOM general confirmed: 'With it we can stop your heart, we can make you shit your pants.' Three people died of heart attacks within 50 yards of each other at the Capitol — something Baker says has never happened at any event in history.
According to Baker, Shauni Kirkhoff failed a 4-hour FBI polygraph on the night before his story was published and was admonished by the examiner for giving rehearsed answers.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino called Baker's bosses at The Blaze multiple times to get him fired over his pipe bomb reporting — the same Bongino who had praised Baker's J6 videos just months earlier. Baker says Bongino also promised to personally fund the defamation lawsuit against Baker and told Massie he wouldn't accept evidence Baker had gathered.
FBI officials including Deputy Director Dan Bongino called Baker's bosses at The Blaze five times attempting to get him fired over his pipe bomb reporting.
Five days after Baker publicly named Shauni Kirkhoff as the suspected bomber, the FBI placed a surveillance team on Brian Cole Jr.'s house for the first time in five years.
An intelligence community expert with 30 years' experience in gait-recognition technology ran Baker's bomber footage against Shauni Kerkhoff's Capitol Police and soccer footage, returning a 94% software match and a 98% human expert match. Kerkhoff had applied to the CIA before January 6th and is now a CIA employee.
Intelligence community gait-recognition analysis produced a 94% software match and 98% human expert match between the hooded bomber and Capitol Police officer Shauni Kerkhoff.
The morning after Baker's story naming Kirkhoff as the suspected bomber was published, the CIA's chief public affairs officer called him from home to correct her job description — but crucially did not deny she was the bomber. She told Baker not to let the correction 'take away from the veracity of your story.'
Chapter 5 · 1:40:08
Tucker closes by saying he's grateful Baker took the time and that he thinks it's important to get this story on tape. Baker agrees, invoking the concept of a dead man switch: with the HSI agent dead and Baker himself having suffered an acute heart failure in January, publishing the full account is the best protection he has. Tucker ends with a note that he'll see viewers next Wednesday and thanks Baker, wishing him Godspeed.
Claims made here
Brian Cole Jr. wears a size 12 shoe, while the pipe bomber wore a size 9 to 9.5 Nike Air Max Speed Turf.
The HSI agent investigating the pipe bomb case was found dead in his Fairfax County condo the day before Thanksgiving, and his body was cremated on December 19th before any medical examiner's report was issued.
Brian Cole Jr. wears a size 12 shoe; the bomber wore a 9 to 9.5. Cole walks with a distinctive duck-footed autism-associated gait; the bomber walks pigeon-toed with the circumduction pattern of a right-leg injury. He has never owned a watch. He gave his confession without an attorney present after two hours of interrogation.
Brick measurements in the alley where the bomber walked indicate the hooded figure wore a size 9 to 9.5 Nike Air Max; Brian Cole Jr. wears a size 12.
After thousands of hours reviewing pipe bomber footage, Baker's team spotted a smartwatch flashing on the bomber's wrist and identified at least five instances of the bomber talking into it. Brian Cole Jr. has never owned a watch of any kind — let alone a smartwatch — making his confession physically incompatible with the evidence.
A senior 19-year HSI agent who had been briefed on Baker's pipe bomb evidence and was planning to formally investigate was found dead in his Fairfax County condo the day before Thanksgiving. His body was cremated three weeks later before any medical examiner report was issued. A new condo owner told Baker he'd been told the previous occupant 'was murdered.'
A senior HSI agent who was investigating the pipe bomb case and had briefed a team on his plan to pursue it was found dead in his condo the day before Thanksgiving, ruled a possible suicide but disbelieved by colleagues.
The HSI agent's body was cremated on December 19th, three weeks after his death and before any medical examiner's report or official cause of death was issued.
No indexed bits in this chapter.
An intelligence community expert with 30 years' experience in gait-recognition technology ran Baker's bomber footage against Shauni Kerkhoff's Capitol Police and soccer footage, returning a 94% software match and a 98% human expert match. Kerkhoff had applied to the CIA before January 6th and is now a CIA employee.
A senior 19-year HSI agent who had been briefed on Baker's pipe bomb evidence and was planning to formally investigate was found dead in his Fairfax County condo the day before Thanksgiving. His body was cremated three weeks later before any medical examiner report was issued. A new condo owner told Baker he'd been told the previous occupant 'was murdered.'
The January 6th pipe bomb devices were inert training props — not functional weapons. FBI agents assigned to the case were told by leadership the devices were inert, bomb experts who reviewed the FBI's own forensic report confirmed they matched training devices, and one whistleblower said they 'would have been bombs if they had been bombs.'
This episode
Capitol Police officer and current CIA employee whom Steve Baker identifies as the likely January 6th pipe bomber based on gait recognition analysis.
Autistic Black man arrested and charged with the J6 pipe bombings, whose confession Baker argues is false given physical evidence about shoe size and gait.
FBI Deputy Director who Baker says called The Blaze multiple times to get him fired, offered to fund the Kirkhoff defamation lawsuit, and refused to review Baker's pipe bomb evidence.
Congressman who conducted committee interviews with Capitol Police counter-surveillance officers and gave them nicknames 'man bun guy' and 'backpack guy.'
J6 participant Baker believes was a federal provocateur who was on the FBI's Most Wanted list and then removed and given sympathetic press treatment without ever being meaningfully prosecuted.
Air Force veteran shot and killed by Capitol Police officer Michael Byrd during January 6th; cited as the only fatality by gunfire that day.
Founder of Revolver News whose early reporting on the J6 pipe bomb mystery first raised the question of why the case had not been solved.
Was inside the DNC building when the pipe bomb was discovered outside; never publicly acknowledged her presence there for a year.
Congressman who chaired two January 6th investigative subcommittees and told Baker he had to agree not to investigate the Capitol Police as a condition of continuing.
Current CIA director whom Baker was told Kerkhoff may be assigned to protect as part of her CIA dignitary protection role.
Former Director of National Intelligence under whose leadership the DIG (Director's Initiative Group) was created and which reviewed Baker's Kirkhoff evidence.
Baker identifies Trump's Chairman of the Joint Chiefs as the downstream coordinator of the intelligence community operation that encompassed January 6th.
Discussed extensively as central to Baker's theory that the J6 pipe bomb operation was a Capitol Police-managed exercise, with its intel division described as an arm of the CIA.
Baker argues the CIA, in concert with elements of the DoD and Capitol Police, orchestrated the J6 setup to end Trump's political career.
One of the two locations where Baker says inert pipe bomb training devices were planted on the evening of January 5th, 2021.
One of the two locations where Baker says inert pipe bomb training devices were planted on the evening of January 5th, 2021.
Baker took his Kirkhoff evidence to ODNI's Director's Initiative Group rather than the FBI; the DIG was subsequently dissolved by CIA pressure.
Officially unacknowledged Army special operations intelligence unit Baker says had plainclothes operators embedded in the J6 crowd.
Media outlet where Steve Baker worked while pursuing his J6 and pipe bomb investigations; FBI officials called its executives multiple times to get Baker fired.
High-profile defamation law firm representing Shauni Kerkhoff in her lawsuit against Baker; previously represented Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News.
Stats
This episode
Factual claims made this episode, and whether a source was named.
Only 80 to 100 people committed any violence on January 6th out of hundreds of thousands present at the Capitol.
Approximately 41,000 hours of Capitol security video exists from January 6th.
All seven doors breached at the Capitol on January 6th were breached from the inside by protesters who first entered through broken windows — not opened by Capitol Police.
Newsweek published an article titled 'Secret Commandos with Shoot to Kill Orders at January 6th' on the first anniversary of January 6th, written by William Arkin, which remains online but which Arkin later privately denied ever happened.
The January 6th pipe bomb devices were inert training props, confirmed by FBI whistleblowers and bomb experts who reviewed the FBI's forensic report.
Kamala Harris was inside the DNC when the pipe bomb was found outside, but this was not publicly revealed for a full year, when Politico reported it.
The FBI possessed 30,000 video files of the January 6th pipe bomber but released only approximately 30 seconds of footage publicly.
Intelligence community gait-recognition analysis produced a 94% software match and 98% human expert match between the hooded January 6th pipe bomber and Capitol Police officer Shauni Kerkhoff.
Autistic individuals give the highest rate of false confessions to law enforcement of any demographic group.
Brian Cole Jr. wears a size 12 shoe, while the pipe bomber wore a size 9 to 9.5 Nike Air Max Speed Turf.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino called The Blaze's executives at least twice to complain about Baker and attempt to have him fired.
Fewer than 250 of the Capitol Police's 2,000 uniformed officers were on duty on January 6th, despite department policy requiring all-hands double-shift coverage on First Amendment protest days.
Capitol Police issued six permits for protests on Capitol grounds on January 6th but did not inform their own officers that such permits had been issued.
Shauni Kerkhoff failed a four-hour FBI polygraph on questions related to the pipe bombings and was admonished by the examiner for giving rehearsed answers.
The HSI agent investigating the pipe bomb case was found dead in his Fairfax County condo the day before Thanksgiving, and his body was cremated on December 19th before any medical examiner's report was issued.
Congressman Loudermilk was required to agree not to investigate the Capitol Police as a condition of being allowed to continue his January 6th investigation.
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