Is there no national manhunt for the January 5, 2021, bomb maker? No, that's not true: The search for the pipe-bomb maker involves the FBI's Washington, D.C., field office and that agency's partners at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives plus the U.S. Capitol Police and the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department. Investigators were still, in November, 2021, actively seeking tips from the public by offering a reward of $100,000. The details of the search on the FBI website fit the definition of manhunt: "a very organized, very intensive nationwide search. "
The claim appeared in a Facebook post on September 27, 2021 (archived here). It opened:
I couldn't sleep last night.Kept thinking about how the January 5th bomb maker is still on the loose.
Turned on all the news and there's no national manhunt. No one cares.
This is what users saw on social media at the time this was written:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken Mon Nov 15, 22:47:33 2021 UTC)
On January 5, 2021, two pipe bombs were placed in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The bombs were detonated by authorities.
On September 8, 2021 -- nearly three weeks before the "no national manhunt" claim was posted -- the FBI posted on its website an update on its investigation, including "new information and video regarding the suspect" who planted the bombs. The new information included a virtual map of the route the suspect used.
The FBI's release received extensive news coverage including reports on NBC News, Fox News, CNN and other national media.
The agency said: "Since January, the FBI has conducted more than 800 interviews, collected more than 23,000 video files, and assessed more than 300 tips related to this investigation. Those tips have helped us uncover new information, which we are releasing today and asking the public to view it and call us with any information you think may be relevant."
The FBI's press office told Lead Stories: "We have nothing to provide outside of what is included on our website."
Merriam Webster's definition of manhunt matches the FBI's account of its work:
Definition of manhunt
: an organized and usually intensive hunt for a person and especially for one charged with a crime
