The FBI arrested a suspect connected to the planting of pipe bombs near the U.S. Capitol before the events of January 6, 2021.
Brian Cole Jr. of Virginia, 30, is in custody in relation to the matter, The New York Post reports. According to the outlet, investigators were looking into his possible links to “anarchist” ideas. Authorities believe Cole was the individual caught on camera “skulking around the capital city the night before former Vice President Joe Biden’s election victory was to be certified by Congress, leaving ‘viable explosive devices’ outside the major parties’ headquarters in Washington, DC,” The Post said.
As NBC News reports, the arrest “marks a breakthrough in a case that has stymied investigators for nearly five years.”
MS NOW Justice and Intelligence Correspondent Ken Dilanian wrote on social media that the suspect “has been charged with placing the bombs, which did not detonate.” Dilanian added that authorities “have not yet determined a motive, a law enforcement official said. But the suspect has been linked to statements in support of anarchist ideology, said two people briefed on the arrest.”
An FBI page on the case says that between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. on January 5, 2021, an “unidentified individual placed pipe bombs near the offices of the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee in Washington, D.C.” The pipe bombs were discovered the following afternoon.
In 2023, Republican Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Jim Jordan (R-OH), and Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) sent a letter to former FBI Director Christopher Wray, detailing information surrounding the pipe bomb case. The letter included a transcript of former Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office (WFO) Steven D’Antuono’s testimony, where he suggested that the FBI could not determine if the pipe bombs were a “diversionary tactic.”
