The FBI on Thursday morning arrested a suspect accused of planting pipe bombs exterior the Republican and Democratic occasion headquarters in Washington, D.C., previous to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, the Trump administration mentioned.
The suspect, Brian Cole Jr., of Woodbridge, Virginia, is charged with “use of an explosive system,” U.S. Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi mentioned at a press briefing Thursday afternoon.
The investigation is ongoing and extra prices may very well be filed, Bondi famous, including that search warrants are at the moment being executed.
A felony grievance unsealed after the briefing exhibits Cole going through a cost of transporting an explosive system in interstate commerce with intent to kill, injure or intimidate or unlawfully destroy property.
He’s additionally charged with “malicious destruction or tried malicious destruction via hearth and explosive supplies.”
The arrest is a large breakthrough within the almost five-year federal investigation into who positioned the bombs, which didn’t detonate.
A surveillance picture launched by the FBI exhibits an individual in Washington, U.S., January 6, 2021. The FBI issued a discover, which options this surveillance picture, requesting info on individual(s) chargeable for pipe bombs left on the Republican Nationwide Committee (RNC) and Democratic Nationwide Committee (DNC) headquarters.
FBI | Reuters
“A person who’s now alleged to have positioned a number of explosive gadgets to explode a number of individuals and a number of officers [and] harmless civilians is now arrested,” FBI Director Kash Patel mentioned on the press briefing.
MS NOW, which reported the arrest earlier Thursday morning, mentioned police haven’t but decided a motive, citing a legislation enforcement official.
Bondi, requested about Cole’s motivations on the briefing, would solely say that the DOJ’s probe is ongoing.
Prince William County Police block the road close to the home the place the FBI made an arrest, in Woodbridge, Va., Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025.
Steve Helber | AP
Two individuals briefed on the arrest advised MS NOW on Thursday morning that the suspect has been linked to statements that present assist for an anarchist ideology.
The discoveries that led to the arrest didn’t come from new proof, however moderately from the identical trove of fabric that had largely been gathered in 2021 and 2022, two sources advised MS NOW.
Meaning the suspect might feasibly have been arrested years earlier — a truth that might trigger embarrassment for the FBI, these sources mentioned.
However Patel, at Thursday’s presser, touted that “we didn’t uncover any new info.”
FBI Director Kash Patel speaks throughout a information convention on the January sixth pipe bomber on the Division of Justice on December 4, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Photographs
The company as an alternative “reexamined every bit of proof, sifted by way of all the info,” Patel mentioned, claiming that was “one thing that the prior administration refused and did not do.”
As lately as late October, the bureau was providing a $500,000 reward for info that will assist authorities establish the Capitol Hill bombing suspect.
A suspect within the planting of explosive gadgets close to the Democratic and Republican committee headquarters in Washington is seen strolling previous the Capitol Hill Membership, also called the Nationwide Republican Membership of Capitol Hill, in Washington on this nonetheless body taken from video launched on March 9, 2021.
Handout | Reuters
Surveillance video launched by the FBI exhibits that round 7:54 p.m. ET on Jan. 5, 2021, a roughly 5-foot-7-inch-tall individual sporting a face masks, black gloves and a grey hoodie positioned a bomb exterior the Democratic Nationwide Committee constructing.
About 22 minutes later, the identical individual appeared to put a second bomb by the Republican Nationwide Committee’s workplaces, in line with the footage.
The incident occurred hours earlier than a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers ready to substantiate former President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win.
A poster is displayed throughout a press convention with Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel in regards to the January sixth pipe bomber on the Division of Justice on December 4, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Photographs
The timing of the tried crime, and the elusiveness of the perpetrator, have made the case a hotbed of conspiracy theories.
Final month, a conservative information web site named a former U.S. Capitol Police officer as a doable match for the pipe bomber, based mostly largely on a “gait evaluation.” The FBI poured chilly water on the story, and the accused officer cleared her identify by offering a video of her enjoying together with her puppies on the time the bombs have been positioned, CBS Information reported.
The yearslong investigation was a precedence for the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Division and the U.S. Capitol Police.
Safety fencing stays put in across the Democratic Nationwide Committee (DNC) headquarters on November 16, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Photographs
By January, the FBI mentioned investigators and associated companions had visited greater than 1,200 residences and companies, interviewed over 1,000 individuals, reviewed almost 40,000 video information and assessed greater than 600 suggestions.
As a part of their seek for the bomber, the FBI subpoenaed bank card knowledge from box-store retailers to establish individuals who purchased the identical kind of battery parts believed for use within the gadgets, MS NOW reported.
Brokers then in contrast these patrons with the homeowners of telephones tracked close to the RNC and DNC buildings across the time the bombs have been positioned — however discovered no matches, in line with MS NOW.
Additionally they analyzed the tried bomber’s clothes, submitting subpoenas for receipts from shoe sellers — and receiving a listing of virtually 1,200 gross sales — after figuring out what they believed have been the suspect’s sneakers, MS NOW reported.
The suspect wore mild grey Nike Air Max Pace Turf footwear with a yellow emblem, the FBI has mentioned.
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