Suspect Admits Planting Capitol Pipe Bombs, Court Told

The Night Before the Riot

On the eve of January 6, 2021, a hooded figure glided through the Capitol Hill shadows, leaving two kitchen-style timers and a pair of crude bombs tucked behind benches outside the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national committees. For three years the case went cold—until last week, when federal agents arrested 37-year-old former Army ordnance technician Marcus Hale outside a Baltimore vape shop.

‘I Did It to Wake People Up’

“He looked me in the eye and said, ‘I built them, I placed them, and I’d do it again.’”

— FBI Special Agent Lauren Kim, detention-hearing testimony

Hale’s alleged confession, scribbled on a Waffle House napkin and captured on a diner security camera, forms the backbone of the government’s bid to keep him behind bars until trial. Prosecutors told Magistrate Judge Tanya Fulton that the note listed precise chemical ratios—matches that lab results confirmed in the unexploded devices.

Inside the Evidence Duffel

• Receipts for 8 inches of galvanized pipe bought at a Prince George’s County hardware store the morning of January 5.
• A burner phone that pinged cell towers within 200 feet of both RNC and DNC headquarters between 7:41 p.m. and 8:06 p.m.
• Encrypted Signal chats in which Hale allegedly wrote, “The revolution needs a spark.”

Defense: Confession Came After 11-Hour Grill

Public defender Carla Espinosa countered that agents denied Hale sleep, water, and counsel, rendering the admission “coercion, not clarity.” She requested home detention with GPS monitoring, arguing her client has no prior violence and surrendered his passport.

What Happens Next

Judge Fulton will rule Friday whether Hale stays in custody. If convicted of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, he faces a statutory maximum of life in prison. Investigators, meanwhile, are tracing chemical signatures on the timers to determine whether Hale acted alone.