Former Capitol Police Officer Shauni Kerkhoff filed a defamation lawsuit on Tuesday against Blaze Media, former employees Steve Baker and Joseph Hanneman, and Baker and Hanneman’s new online publication, Veritas Regnat, for their reporting on the Jan. 5 to Jan. 6, 2021, pipe-bomb incident in Washington, D.C.
For nearly five years, federal authorities had been unable to identify the masked individual who placed one pipe bomb outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters and another outside the Republican National Committee headquarters the evening before the Jan. 6, 2021, protest at the U.S. Capitol. The devices did not detonate, and there were no injuries reported.
The lawsuit cites a November 8, 2025, Blaze News article that named Kerkhoff as a “forensic match,” based on gait analysis, to the bombing suspect. In December, the Department of Justice announced that the suspect had been identified as another person, Brian Cole Jr., from Woodbridge, Virginia. Blaze News retracted the article shortly after Cole’s arrest.
The complaint alleges that Kerkhoff, represented by the Alexandria-based defamation law firm Clare Locke, was “ultimately exonerated” and that the defendants’ “false and defamatory accusations have irreparably changed her life.” It further alleges that Blaze News’ investigation “induced the FBI to open an investigation of Ms. Kerkhoff.”
“They then cited that investigation — which their own actions had caused — as independent corroboration of their accusation,” according to the complaint.
An April 1 motion filed by Cole’s attorneys claimed that Kerkhoff was “interviewed by the FBI and took a polygraph examination” on Nov. 6, 2025, two days before Blaze News published the article naming Kerkhoff in connection to the pipe-bomb incident.
In her lawsuit, Kerkhoff confirmed that two FBI agents confronted her on Nov. 6, claiming they were “investigating ‘online chatter’ that she was the pipe bomber.” Kerkhoff’s complaint also alleges that her home was subjected to a search, and she participated in a polygraph interview that evening.
While Kerkhoff’s complaint does not mention the results of her polygraph, Cole’s motion — which stated that she was asked two relevant questions, “Did you place those pipe bombs?” and “Did you place those pipe bombs that evening?” — asserted that she failed the examination. It also claimed that the polygraph examiner “noted” that Kerkhoff’s answers seemed “rehearsed.” Cole’s attorneys stated that the FBI named Kerkhoff “as a person of interest” on Nov. 7, a day before Blaze News’ article was released.
“Blaze News initially reported, as confirmed by official intelligence sources, that based on a forensic gait analysis, Ms. Kerkhoff was a 94% match to the suspected pipe bomber. That report was retracted when the FBI arrested and DOJ charged another individual, who had reportedly confessed to the crime. According to recent court filings by that individual’s legal counsel, Ms. Kerkhoff was a person of interest under surveillance by the FBI and failed a polygraph test administered two days before Blaze Media’s article was published,” Michael Grygiel, attorney for Blaze Media, told Blaze News in a statement.
“Blaze Media will vigorously defend this meritless lawsuit challenging its valid news reporting on a matter of legitimate public concern, which is protected under the First Amendment and Virginia’s anti-SLAPP law.”
Kerkhoff’s complaint alleges six counts of defamation against the defendants, including four against Blaze Media. She is seeking an unspecified amount in damages to be determined at trial.
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