Brian Cole Jr., the man arrested Thursday in connection with planting pipe bombs outside GOP and Democratic national party headquarters nearly five years ago, is known as a quiet man who walks his dog in his small town about 23 miles south of the U.S. Capitol.
“I would never have guessed it was him to be honest,” Brian Lopez, a neighbor who lives down the street from Cole in suburban Woodbridge, Virginia, told MS NOW. “It’s also concerning too that it took these many years to actually find out a possible suspect.”
A large local and federal law enforcement presence amassed outside Cole’s house following his arrest by FBI agents Thursday morning. Several unmarked SUVs and Prince William County Police cars lined the street outside Cole’s home as federal agents behind a line of caution tape appeared to enter his residence.
Cole’s capture amounted to a major breakthrough in an unresolved case that had become a hotbed of conspiracy theories over who planted the pipe bombs on the evening before a mob of pro-Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an effort to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory.
While no motive has been identified, the suspect has been associated with pro-anarchist ideological statements, two sources familiar with the arrest who were granted anonymity in order to speak candidly about the sensitive criminal case told MS NOW. Cole has been charged with transporting an explosive device with the “knowledge or intent that it will be used to kill, injure, or intimidate any individual or unlawfully to damage or destroy any building, vehicle, or other real or personal property.”
Cole works in a bail bondsman office in Northern Virginia and lives with his family in Woodbridge, according to the arrest affidavit.
Cole’s family members did not immediately respond to requests for comment. But a few neighbors who were interviewed by MS NOW expressed surprise.
One of them, who asked not to be identified, said the 30-year-old suspect has lived with his parents since 1991. The neighbor described Cole as “very antisocial” and said he has regularly been spotted wearing headphones and walking his pet chihuahua dog to a nearby 7/11 store.
Though quiet and reserved, Cole never seemed “unfriendly or aggressive in any way,” a neighbor who has lived in the area since 2007 told MS NOW.
“Just seems like a quiet gentleman that enjoys walking his dog and keeping to himself,” the neighbor said.
Some of the conspiracies about the pipe case have been perpetuated over the years by current Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino. As a former right-wing podcaster, Bongino accused the FBI under the Biden administration of covering up information it had on the case.
Trump Attorney General Pam Bondi suggested Thursday during a joint Justice Department and FBI news conference that her colleague has been vindicated.
“This is the best birthday present I think Deputy Director Bongino could ask for today,” Bondi said.
The attorney general credited Bongino and FBI Director Kash Patel with cracking a cold case that she complained had “languished for four years” under the Biden administration.
The FBI linked Cole to the pipe bombs through credit card records, which authorities said indicated he purchased items consistent with supplies needed to make home-made explosives. The items, which allegedly included a galvanized pipe marked with the same manufacturing label found on the bombs placed outside the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters in 2021, were purchased in Northern Virginia,
according to the criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia.
Cellphone records placed Cole near the national party headquarters on Jan. 5, 2021, and his license plate was captured on a reader less than half a mile from the bomb location on the same day, the complaint alleges.
The case has been assigned to Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya, who oversaw proceedings for several Jan. 6 defendants, all of whom were pardoned by President Donald Trump.
Nnamdi Egwuonwu is a reporter for MS NOW.
Sydney Carruth is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW.