The Virginia man accused of planting pipe bombs outside the Democratic and Republican National Committee offices the night before the Capitol riot confessed to the crime on Thursday, according to sources confirmed by several outlets. Brian Cole Jr., 30, is set to appear in DC federal court on Friday.
Cole will be arraigned on charges of transporting explosives across state lines with the intent to kill, injure, or cause damage, as well as attempted malicious destruction using explosive materials. Investigators say they arrested Cole after determining he was the one who left the working explosive devices outside the headquarters of the country's two major political parties on Jan. 5, 2021.
Admitted His Crime
The bombs went unnoticed for 17 hours and were found just moments before Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, an attack that pushed back the certification of the 2020 election results by several hours.
Cole's arrest came after an in-depth review of the long-stalled case, a process overseen by FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino.
"This is what it's like when you work for a president who tells you to go get the bad guys and stop focusing on other extraneous things not related to law enforcement," Bongino said at a press conference announcing the arrest on Thursday afternoon.
FBI Director Kash Patel told The New York Post on Thursday that investigators didn't rely on any fresh public tips to finally identify the suspect — even though he'd managed to stay out of reach for nearly five years. Instead, agents pieced everything together from the evidence they already had.
"Our team re-examined the case from the ground up after the previous leadership spent four years with no success," he said. "We engineered this investigation, built the evidentiary trail, and executed the search warrants that finally brought this individual into custody."
Nabbed at Last
On the night before Congress met to certify the 2020 electoral votes, a man — now believed to be Cole — was caught on camera wandering through Washington, DC, and placing what officials later confirmed were "viable explosive devices" outside both the Republican and Democratic headquarters.
The bombs were found the next afternoon, just as Congress was preparing to wrap up the certification — and as crowds of Trump supporters were forcing their way into the US Capitol.
During the Biden years, the FBI offered a $500,000 reward for any tip that could help them make an arrest.
When Trump took office, his administration renewed that reward in early October and released a fresh video that showed the suspect roaming through a residential DC neighborhood on the same night the bombs were planted.
Investigators said Cole bought various supplies from stores across northern Virginia — including eight different Home Depot locations, plus Micro Center, Lowe's, and Walmart — and they believe he began experimenting with building the devices as far back as 2019.
The bombs were made from 8-inch galvanized steel pipes with capped ends. Each one was wired with a nine-volt battery and simple white kitchen items to complete the setup, according to federal officials.
