A man holding pairs of zip-tie handcuffs was photographed during the riot at the US Capitol on Wednesday, January 6. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is now searching for the unknown man in head-to-toe paramilitary gear. But he was not the only one. There was another man who was recently identified as an Air Force veteran.
According to experts, the unidentified man, who was not with security, was among the rioters who disrupted US Congress' certification of Joe Biden's election win with violence. The man's tactical gear had symbols indicating support for military and police and had a thin blue line in the shape of Tennessee.
According to reports, at least two different men were seen carrying the zip-ties commonly used as disposable handcuffs, suggesting that they planned to take hostages at the Capitol.
Who Were These People?
Ari Weil, the deputy research director for the University of Chicago's Militant Propaganda Analysis team, said that the zip-ties seen at the Capitol building could be compared to the Michigan plot of the kidnapping of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Malcolm Nance, who is a retired Navy counter-terrorism intelligence officer, had thought the same when images of people wearing zip-ties and tactical gear appeared on social media after the mob attack at the Capitol. "My greatest fear is that they use this mass of people to push through to breach the building — then what we call a Capture and Kill-team," Nance said.
Nance, the director of the Terror Asymmetrics Project, a think tank studying the strategies and tactics of radical ideologies, said of the possibility of taking hostages. He and his team also noticed the use of flag poles and baseball bats as weapons during the Wednesday riot. "These guys came for action, to do damage," he added.
One Already Identified
A man captured on camera wearing military gear and carrying zip-tie handcuffs has been identified as Larry Rendall Brock, Jr., a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel.
According to recent reports, the Air Force Academy graduate and combat veteran from Texas was seen in images and videos roaming around the Capitol on the day of the riot. He also broke into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office along with other rioters.
"The President asked for his supporters to be there to attend, and I felt like it was important, because of how much I love this country, to actually be there," he told the New Yorker while confirming his presence at the Capitol building.
Even though Brock denied that they went inside Pelosi's office, ITV News footage disputes his claim.
As for the man with the Tennessee patch on his tactical gear, Nance said: "He's hunting for people." Douglas Korneski, the special agent in charge of the Memphis Field Office said that as of Friday evening, January 8, the FBI was still trying to identify the man.
