Not all the terrorists who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2020, stormed the building. One of them attacked our democracy with bombs that thankfully didn’t go off. The FBI accused Brian Cole Jr., 30, of placing two pipe bombers outside of the Democratic National Committee headquarters (DNC) and the Republican National Committee headquarters (RNC) on that infamous day.
Every law enforcement department in the nation searched for Cole for five years, relentlessly and determined to find the terrorist. After exhaustive years of search, authorities arrested Cole on the morning of December fourth at his Woodbridge, Virginia house. Cole could face a maximum of thirty-30 years in federal prison.
According to an affidavit, investigators linked Cole to the bombs through “a combination of surveillance footage, historical cell–site data, and years of purchase records showing he bought each major component used to construct the devices. Agents allege Cole acquired the same model of galvanized pipe, matching end caps, and nine – volt connectors, among other items, across multiple hardware stores in northern Virginia in 2019 and 2020.
Cole continued buying components used in bomb-making after his bombs in the capitol were discovered, agents allege, listing the purchase of a white kitchen timer and two nine-volt batteries from Walmart on January 21, as well as galvanized pipes from Home Depot the following day.
“Though it had been nearly five years our team continued to churn through massive amounts of data and tips that we used to identify this suspect,” said Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI’s criminal investigative division Darren Cox.
Cole was charged with attempted malicious destruction using explosives and transporting explosives across state lines with intent to kill or harm according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
