The suspect charged with planting explosives at both the Republican and Democratic National Committee buildings in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021, was an avid and deeply involved fan of 'My Little Pony.' Brian Cole Jr., 30, seemed to be obsessed with toys that were typically aimed at girls.
He spent his time making artwork of the plastic pony characters, remixing songs about them, and even writing fan-fiction stories centered around them. His creations appear across multiple social media accounts tied to Cole's email and phone number. Using the handle iDeltaVelocity, Cole shared 87 pieces of My Little Pony fan art on one forum, featuring various pony and unicorn characters.
Strange Obsession
One of them is shown wearing a bionic leg brace, and many of his drawings focus on pink or purple ponies with long, rainbow-colored manes — a style he seemed especially fond of. A Tumblr page devoted to My Little Pony artwork — and using one of Cole's known usernames — once reacted to a drawing of a pony holding an M60 machine gun by saying, "Eh... I'd give her an RPG. What can I say? Explosions are COOL!" — referring to a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
Men who are part of the My Little Pony fandom are often called "Bronies," a subculture that was big enough in 2017 to host yearly conventions. Experts at the time described the group as genuinely enthusiastic about the series.
One fan-fiction piece believed to be written by him blended the show's fantasy world with darker, horror-inspired themes.
"Applebloom's eyes snapped open as she sat up in her bed, panting heavily and sweat dripping from her red mane [...] The skeletons, the zombified ponies rising up from the ground, their decaying bodies, rotting flesh sliding off from their bones," he allegedly wrote. "She buried her face in her hooves, crying silently at the horrible images that inhabited her mind."
A former classmate told The Washington Post that Cole used to carry a My Little Pony backpack in high school — something other students often teased him about.
"The subculture of Bronies was very online and unique and attracted a lot of male fans, who were breaking gender norms, which attracted a lot of attention," said Dr. Daniel Chadborn, an Assistant Professor of Psychology who wrote the book "Meet the Bronies: The Psychology of the Adult My Little Pony Fandom."
Motive Still Unclear
Since his arrest last week, very little has been revealed about Cole or what may have driven his actions. According to earlier reporting by The New York Post, he mostly kept to himself, aside from occasionally walking his chihuahua around the neighborhood, and he still lived with his family.
His grandmother described him as "almost autistic-like, because he doesn't understand a lot of stuff," and said he worked at the family's business, Brian Cole Bail Bonds.
On one of his Tumblr profiles, Cole listed his interests as "parkour, music, video games (mainly horror), drawing, improving myself philosophically, [and] anime." When asked what helps him feel better in a bad mood, he answered: "Smashing my head on my keyboard..."
Online, he used several aliases, including "iDeltaVelocity," "Delta1Forgotten," "Bron1Delta," and "Blue Velocity." Under the last of those, he shared original Electro Swing tracks — some with My Little Pony themes — such as "Pony I Want to Be (iDeltaVelocity remix)" and "Doin' the Equestrian Jive."
After 2020, Cole's presence on public social media appeared to fade. By then, authorities say, he was already moving forward with his pipe-bomb plot — visiting multiple stores across northern Virginia, including Home Depot, Micro Center, Lowe's, and Walmart, to gather the supplies needed to build the crude devices. Neither of the bombs ultimately went off.
Cole is now charged with transporting an explosive device across state lines with the intent to kill, injure, or destroy property, as well as attempted malicious destruction using explosive materials. He has already admitted to the actions in conversations with police, according to sources who spoke with TheNew York Post.
