Never did Karlin Younger expect an everyday chore to spark a federal investigation. But the lunch break she decided to use to do laundry on Jan. 6 did just that in our nation’s Capitol.”I was doing a now infamous load of laundry, just changing it over from the washer to the dryer,” she recalled.It was that load, the Wisconsin native who now lives and works in D.C., was taking back to her building when she looked down and saw something odd.”My first reaction was, ‘This has got to be trash,’ until I kind of leaned closer and saw that it was, in fact, something that looked like a bomb.”She noticed the piping, wires and a timer pointed to the number 20. “You’re on that edge of, ‘I don’t want to bother anybody, I want to make sure this is real,'” she recalled from her home in Washington. “You don’t want to go down as the person who evacuates a city block for a hoax. But at the same time, there was just enough of that gut instinct that said, ‘This isn’t a place you put a hoax, I have to have somebody check this out.'”She decided to alert a security guard nearby. The bomb had been placed next to the headquarters of the Republican National Committee.Younger would later learn it was the first of two pipe bombs discovered that day, the same day a mob attacked the United States Capitol in support of President Donald Trump and his false claims alleging the election was “stolen.”Investigators found the other potentially deadly device near the Democratic headquarters about a quarter-mile south of Younger’s building. Federal investigators published a wanted poster with an image of the person they believe planted both bombs. The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward to find the person.For younger, the personal reward was knowing she was in a position to help.”I mostly say I just got really lucky,” she said. “The lesson I’ve learned is really to just trust your gut and if you see something, say something.”
Never did Karlin Younger expect an everyday chore to spark a federal investigation. But the lunch break she decided to use to do laundry on Jan. 6 did just that in our nation’s Capitol.
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“I was doing a now infamous load of laundry, just changing it over from the washer to the dryer,” she recalled.
It was that load, the Wisconsin native who now lives and works in D.C., was taking back to her building when she looked down and saw something odd.
“My first reaction was, ‘This has got to be trash,’ until I kind of leaned closer and saw that it was, in fact, something that looked like a bomb.”
She noticed the piping, wires and a timer pointed to the number 20.
“You’re on that edge of, ‘I don’t want to bother anybody, I want to make sure this is real,'” she recalled from her home in Washington. “You don’t want to go down as the person who evacuates a city block for a hoax. But at the same time, there was just enough of that gut instinct that said, ‘This isn’t a place you put a hoax, I have to have somebody check this out.'”
She decided to alert a security guard nearby. The bomb had been placed next to the headquarters of the Republican National Committee.
Younger would later learn it was the first of two pipe bombs discovered that day, the same day a mob attacked the United States Capitol in support of President Donald Trump and his false claims alleging the election was “stolen.”
Investigators found the other potentially deadly device near the Democratic headquarters about a quarter-mile south of Younger’s building.
Federal investigators published a wanted poster with an image of the person they believe planted both bombs. The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward to find the person.
For younger, the personal reward was knowing she was in a position to help.
“I mostly say I just got really lucky,” she said. “The lesson I’ve learned is really to just trust your gut and if you see something, say something.”
