Federal law enforcement has made its first arrest in connection to the planting of two pipe bombs outside the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the Democratic and Republican national committees, officials announced last week. 

After a nearly five-year search, Brian J. Cole Jr. has been identified as a suspect. Cole was allegedly seen in surveillance footage on Jan. 5, 2021, outside both South Capitol Street properties — the day before what is now known as the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Cole has been charged with two federal explosive-device offenses: transporting an explosive across state lines with intent to kill, and malicious or attempted malicious destruction by fire or explosives, the arrest warrant states. If convicted, he faces from 10 to 20 years in prison. 

While Capital B does not publish mugshots of individuals regardless of the accusations or conviction posed against them, multiple news outlets have published a photograph of Cole provided by the Justice Department and a sketch from inside the courtroom from his first court appearance where he appears to be Black. Capital B has reached out to his attorney John Shoreman for comment via email, but has not heard back as of this publication. 

What do we know about the alleged pipe bomb suspect?

Not much. 

Two people familiar with the matter under the condition of anonymity described Cole as an extremist in his political beliefs to The Washington Post.

On Friday, Cole, who lives 45 minutes away in Woodbridge, Virginia, was ordered by Magistrate Judge Moxila A. Upadhyaya to be held in jail without a bail amount until a hearing on Dec. 15, according to online records. He did not enter a plea, since the charges stem from the criminal complaint awaiting examination by a grand jury. 

Cole is a 30-year-old who lives in a single-family house with his mother and other family members and “works in the office of a bail bondsman in northern Virginia,” according to the criminal complaint. 

What law enforcement said happened? 

The pipe bombs were found on the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021, while federal and state law enforcement rushed to contain thousands of supporters of Donald Trump who were seeking to halt the transfer of power following his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Many who were pardoned by Trump on day one of his second inauguration this year were convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers to get into the U.S. Capitol. 

As the insurrection unfolded live on several television stations, critics and civil rights leaders argued and officials later admitted that law enforcement would have responded differently to the majority white crowd of at least 1,500 insurrectionists if they were people of color. Those admissions were proven true months earlier, when Trump deployed federal troops who used rubber bullets and tear gas to move social and racial justice protesters outside the White House for a photo op. 

At a press conference on Thursday at the Justice Department, officials praised the arrest and credited it to good, old-fashioned police work. 

The FBI tracked Cole down through his financial records to track his purchases of the components of the homemade explosives from different Home Depot locations and at least one Lowes, Micro Center, and Walmart near his home. They also used his cellphone records to place him at both national committee locations and tracked his Nissan Sentra’s activity that day.

“Following the placement of the pipe bombs on January 5, 2021, Cole continued to make purchases of components used in bomb making” that same month to buy one white kitchen timer and two 9-volt batteries from Walmart, according to the complaint. 

Dan Bongino, right-wing podcast host turned deputy FBI director, said the pipe bomb incident was a cover-up, suggesting in a January episode the federal government knew Cole’s name, but “just doesn’t want to tell us, because it was an inside job.” 

Although the bombs didn’t detonate, “it is important to remember the suspect walked along residential and commercial areas in Capitol Hill just blocks from the U.S. Capitol with viable pipe bombs that could have seriously injured or killed innocent bystanders,” the FBI said in a 2024 statement that included reward money of $500,000 for information to lead to an individual’s arrest and conviction.

Kamala Harris, who was the vice president-elect at the time, was moved from the DNC headquarters shortly after the devices were found that afternoon as law enforcement scrabbled for a larger, ongoing security threat. None of the charges are tied in connection to Harris or any lawmaker or their staff who were relocated that day, according to the criminal complaint.