Wyoming Capitol Bomb Probe Zeroes in on Two Men Caught on Camera

AP, Casper Star-Tribune, Sheridan Media, and the Hill contributed to this report.

Wyoming investigators are homing in on two men seen on security video whom they believe dropped a homemade explosive outside the state Capitol in Cheyenne, touching off an all-day evacuation Tuesday before the building reopened and life mostly returned to normal.

The scare began early Tuesday when someone placed a small device on the Great Seal embedded in the walkway between the Capitol’s front steps and the street. Sometime after 4 a.m. and before 8 a.m., the object — left out in the open, not tucked into a bag — appeared on the 10-foot-wide inlaid stone circle that’s usually roped off by a chain. A passerby later picked it up and carried it inside, prompting Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers to clear the 135-year-old sandstone Capitol at about 9:45 a.m. and lock down the surrounding complex. Drones buzzed overhead. K-9 teams swept the grounds. Governor Mark Gordon and other top officials were among those hustled out, while workers in nearby state office buildings sheltered in place until mid-afternoon.

By Wednesday, though, the building’s echoing halls were open again. No visible security stood post as tourists grabbed pamphlets and custodians fired up vacuums. It was a scene that captured Wyoming’s easygoing civic culture, the kind that lets visitors wander near the levers of power with minimal fuss.

“It’s a fantastic reflection of almost a happiness to trust people,” said Jaume Vilar, an English tourist visiting with his teenage son.

He still had one piece of advice for would-be heroes after learning what happened:

“Don’t ever fiddle with things that might be a bomb. Let the right people deal with it.”

Authorities say the device itself was crude but real. Ryan Cox, commander of the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, described it as a “deconstructed live firework munition with a fuse,” less than a foot long and not wired for remote detonation.

“It would’ve had to be lit with a lighter, or similar-type fashion,” he said.

The Joint Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team and the FBI rendered it safe and hauled it away for further testing. While lab work is pending, investigators quickly cleared the good Samaritan who carried the device indoors and shifted their attention to two men who appeared in security footage to be working together to leave it. Cox said descriptions will be released after agents finish reviewing the video frame by frame.

DCI is leading the case at the Highway Patrol’s request, pulling in a long roster of partners: the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office, Cheyenne Police, the Joint EOD Team, Cheyenne Fire Rescue, AMR, the FBI, the ATF, and the Department of Homeland Security. The agency says it has “a significant amount” of video to scrub and is asking the public for help, especially anyone with images or recordings from the area between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m. Tuesday. Tips can be submitted through the DCI website via the dedicated Capitol incident link or by calling 307-460-6504.

Wyoming hasn’t seen much in the way of political violence, and Cox said there were no recent threats against the Capitol or state officials on his radar. Even so, the timing is touchy. Millions joined “No Kings” protests against President Donald Trump over the weekend; six weeks ago, a shooter killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk while he spoke at a university in neighboring Utah; and immigration enforcement has drawn waves of demonstrations nationwide. After the Jan. 6 attack in Washington, Wyoming briefly stationed Highway Patrol troopers inside its Capitol and checked visitor bags. On Wednesday, the building’s traditional low-key posture was back.

The place where the device sat carries its own symbolism. The Great Seal of the State of Wyoming, set into the approach to the Capitol, depicts a rancher with a rope and pistol and a miner with a pick guarding a robed woman beneath a banner reading “Equal Rights.” Wyoming became the first state to grant women the vote in 1890, the same year the Capitol opened its doors. On Tuesday, that threshold became the stage for a different kind of message — one investigators are now trying to decode as they track down two figures on a grainy video and ask a community to keep its eyes open.