Man accused of planting pipe bombs before Jan. 6 Capitol attack is charged with explosives offenses

WASHINGTON — The FBI on Thursday arrested a man accused of placing two pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national parties in Washington on the eve of the U.S. Capitol attack, an abrupt breakthrough in an investigation that for years flummoxed law enforcement and spawned conspiracy theories about Jan. 6, 2021.

The arrest marks the first time investigators have publicly identified a suspect in an act that has been an enduring mystery for nearly five years in the shadow of the violent Capitol insurrection.

The suspect was identified as Brian J. Cole Jr., 30, of Woodbridge, Virginia, but key questions remain unanswered after his arrest on explosives charges, including a possible motive and what connection if any the act had to the assault on the Capitol the following day by supporters of President Donald Trump.

Law enforcement officials reviewed credit card purchases of pipe bomb components, cellphone tower data and a license plate reader to zero in on Cole, according to an FBI affidavit filed in the case. The FBI and Justice Department declined to elaborate on what led them to the suspect, but characterized his arrest as the result of a reinvigorated investigation during the Trump administration and credited a fresh analysis of already-collected evidence and data.

''Let me be clear: There was no new tip. There was no new witness. Just good, diligent police work and prosecutorial work,'' Attorney General Pam Bondi said at a news conference.

Calls to relatives of Cole listed in public records were not immediately returned Thursday. Hours after Cole was taken into custody, unmarked law enforcement vehicles lined the cul-de-sac where Cole's home is while FBI agents helped shoo away onlookers. Authorities were seen entering the house and examining the trunk of a car nearby.

FBI says the bombs could have killed people

In the years since, investigators have sought the public's help in identifying a shadowy subject seen on surveillance camera even as they struggled to determine answers to basic questions, including the person's gender and motive and whether the act had a clear connection to the riot at the Capitol a day later, when supporters of Trump stormed the building in a bid to halt the certification of the Republican's 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Seeking a breakthrough, the FBI last January publicized additional information about the investigation, including an estimate that the suspect was about 5 feet, 7 inches tall, as well as previously unreleased video of the suspect placing one of the bombs.

The bureau had for years struggled to pinpoint a suspect despite hundreds of tips, a review of tens of thousands of video files and a significant number of interviews.

Lack of evidence spawns conspiracy theories

In the absence of harder evidence, Republican lawmakers and right-wing media outlets promoted conspiracy theories about the pipe bombs. House Republicans also criticized security lapses, questioning how law enforcement failed to detect the bombs for 17 hours.

But since joining the bureau, he and Director Kash Patel have described the investigation as a top priority for the FBI. In a long Nov. 13 post on X, Bongino wrote that the FBI had brought in new personnel to examine the case and ''dramatically increased investigative resources'' along with the public reward for information ''to utilize crowd-sourcing leads.''

"You're not going to walk into our capital city, put down two explosive devices and walk off into the sunset,'' Bongino said at Thursday's news conference.

The reinvigorated investigative focus on the pipe bombs came even as the Trump administration has been engaged in a much broader effort to rewrite the history of the events of Jan. 6, including through Trump's pardons on his first day back in office of the rioters who stormed the Capitol — even those who violently attacked police with poles and other makeshift weapons.

Investigators hunt for clues

Though Patel said the FBI in the prior administration had ''refused and failed'' to sift through each piece of data in the case, agents for years had conducted a sprawling investigation.

Agents paired their video review with a broad sweep of digital records. They gathered cell tower data showing which phones were active in the neighborhood at the time and issued subpoenas to several tech companies, including Google, for location information. Investigators also analyzed credit card transactions from hobby shops and major retailers to identify customers who had purchased components resembling those used in the two explosive devices

The FBI affidavit filed in connection with the arrest lays out a series of evidentiary clues that investigators pieced together to arrive at Cole, who lives with his mother and other family members in a five-bedroom house on a quiet cul-de-sac in Woodbridge, Virginia, about 30 miles south of the Capitol building.

Using information from his bank account and credit cards, authorities discovered he purchased materials in 2019 and 2020 consistent with those used to make the pipe bombs, according to court papers. That included galvanized pipes and white kitchen-style timers, according to the affidavit. The purchases continued even after the devices were placed.

Authorities also obtained records showing Cole's cellphone was near the RNC and DNC on the day the pipe bombs were placed, the affidavit says.

In addition, the FBI says, Cole's Nissan Sentra was captured driving past a license plate reader on the evening of Jan. 5, 2021, less than a half-mile from where the person who placed the devices was first spotted on foot around 7:34 p.m. that night.