Federal officials arrested a man suspected of planting pipe bombs near party headquarters before the January 6 riots. Photo / Handout, FBI, AFP
Federal agents have arrested a Virginia man who is suspected of planting pipe bombs near the headquarters of both the Democratic and Republican national committees in Washington the night before the January 6, 2021, riots at the US Capitol, officials said.
The arrest could solve a mystery that has vexed law enforcement for nearly five years. Despite interviews with more than 1000 people and video footage showing a person sitting on a bench, removing what appears to be a pipe bomb from a bag, officials had struggled to make a breakthrough in the investigation.
Justice Department officials identified the suspect as Brian Cole jnr of Woodbridge, Virginia, who was charged with transporting an explosive device in interstate commerce and attempted malicious destruction by means of an explosive material.
“America is safer – DC is safer – because he’s in custody,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said at a news conference.
Officials did not immediately say when Cole would first appear in court.
Law enforcement officials are investigating a motive, but two people familiar with the matter described Cole as an extremist in his political beliefs. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of an ongoing investigation. Bondi said federal agents were still executing search warrants and gathering evidence as of Thursday afternoon (local time), “and there could be more charges to come”.
Charging documents filed in US District Court in Washington described how investigators matched the pipes, end caps, battery connectors, kitchen timers, electrical wires and steel wool retrieved from the undetonated bombs to purchases Cole had made in 2019 and 2020 at several Northern Virginia stores, including Home Depot, Lowes and Walmart. An FBI agent said in an affidavit that Cole “continued to make purchases of components used in bomb making” after planting the explosive devices near the two political parties’ offices on the evening of January 5, 2021.
Cole’s cellphone location data placed him at the scene that night, the FBI agent said, and a licence plate reader recorded the 2017 Nissan Sentra registered under Cole’s name at a nearby off-ramp around the same time.
The FBI has said that the bombs were capable of injuring people had they detonated and that their discovery apparently diverted law enforcement attention from the US Capitol before a mob breached it on January 6. Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris was in the Democratic National Committee offices at the time, and her Secret Service detail evacuated her from the premises when the bombs were discovered.
The lack of arrests had spurred baseless claims among Republicans, including President Donald Trump, with many suggesting the FBI did not want to solve the case because a member of an anti-fascist group – not a Trump supporter – planted the bombs. Some also suggested the FBI was involved in the planting of the pipe bombs.
The FBI’s co-deputy director, Dan Bongino, was among those who speculated about the pipe bomber on his popular podcast during the Biden administration. He said then, without evidence, that the FBI knew the identity of the bomber and that it was an inside job.
The FBI has repeatedly denied allegations of wrongdoing.
The information that led to Thursday’s arrest was not new, Bondi and other officials said. US Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor in DC, described how investigators revisited reams of evidence this year and found a “needle in a haystack” that eventually led to the suspect.
The FBI identified about 233,000 sales of the same type of black end caps that had been used to assemble the pipe bombs, she said. “Every one of those had to be mined and re-mined to the point where we were able to then connect,” Pirro said.
Bondi said, “The FBI, along with US Attorney Pirro and all of our prosecutors, have worked tirelessly for months, sifting through evidence that had been sitting at the FBI with the Biden administration for four long years.”
According to charging documents Pirro’s office submitted on Thursday, surveillance footage confirmed that the same person – “wearing dark pants, a grey hooded sweatshirt, dark gloves, Nike Air Max Speed Turf shoes” – planted both explosive devices. The FBI affidavit says Cole resides with his mother and other relatives and works in the office of a bail bondsman in Northern Virginia.
Calls and texts sent to family members were not immediately returned.
In a quiet, wooded neighbourhood in Prince William County, 40.2km southwest of the nation’s capital, neighbours readying for school and work on Thursday morning were startled by the noise of a bullhorn. Some spotted dozens of FBI agents and teams in camouflage surrounding the home where the suspect is thought to have lived.
One neighbour, getting around for her day, had already felt the house shake from the familiar concussion of artillery rounds at nearby Quantico marine base, so she initially didn’t think much of the noises outside. But through the woods, she could soon see the teams in camouflage spreading out between the trees.
By late morning, Prince William County police had closed off the street where dozens of government vehicles clogged the cul-de-sac heading to the home. Agents wearing rubber gloves entered and exited the front door frequently. After 2pm, several agents began emptying the home’s garage. Several removed a barbecue grill, a lawn mower, plastic crates and then cardboard boxes, working along one wall, then another.
FBI officials previously had said the investigation of the pipe bomb case was complicated by a number of factors, including that the incident occurred during the coronavirus pandemic and that the bomber was wearing a face covering, which would not have raised suspicion among onlookers. Additionally, the person placed the pipe bombs hours before they were discovered, leaving plenty of time to escape.
DNC Chair Ken Martin thanked law enforcement officials in a statement after the arrest. “Those responsible for this horrific act must be brought to justice, and political violence should never be accepted in America,” he said.
Clarence Williams, Aaron Schaffer and Emma Uber contributed to this report.
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