What we know about Brian Cole Jr., suspect in the January 2021 pipe bomb case

For the first time in nearly five years, there is now a name linked to the bombs planted near both the Republican and Democratic national party headquarters in Washington, D.C., on the eve of the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol.

On Thursday, Brian Cole Jr., 30, was arrested and charged in connection with the explosives, which did not detonate. He’s accused of transporting an explosive device and attempted malicious destruction by means of explosive materials, according to charging documents.

While federal officials offered some details in court documents on how authorities came to zero in on Cole as a suspect, it is not clear if they have determined a motive or whether the bombs, which were planted on Jan. 5, 2021, had any connection to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, when thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump overtook the building in attempt to halt the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory.

The suspect lives just outside of D.C.

Brian J. Cole Jr. lives in a single-family house in Woodbridge, Virginia, a Washington, D.C., suburb about 25 miles southwest of Capitol Hill, with his mother and other family members, according to the affidavit.

One of Cole’s neighbors said Thursday that he was shocked to learn that the suspect resided on the same block.

“Nothing ever happens here,” the neighbor said. “It’s like Sleepytown.”

Cole works in the office of a bail bondsman in northern Virginia, the charging document states. Cole’s father, Brian Cole Sr., owns a bail bondsman business in northern Virginia. It is not clear if it is the business where the suspect works, and his father declined to comment Thursday.

Cole graduated from Hylton High School in Virginia in 2013, according to a spokesperson for the Prince William County Public Schools.

Spokesperson Diana Gulotta declined to comment further.

Public records do not list Cole’s party affiliation.

It is not clear if Cole has a lawyer.

Almost five years after someone planted pipe bombs outside DNC and RNC headquarters in D.C. on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, siege on the U.S. Capitol, top law enforcement officials charged a Woodbridge, Virginia, man. The FBI said analysis of Brian Cole’s cellphone and credit card records, plus license plate reader data, led them to him. Neighbors described a surge of law enforcement in their quiet subdivision. News4’s Mark Segraves and Mauricio Casillas have team coverage.

He allegedly bought materials consistent with bombs

In court documents filed Thursday, prosecutors alleged that throughout 2019 and 2020, Cole purchased items consistent with the components used to manufacture the pipe bombs placed at the RNC and DNC. Federal officials allege that he continued to buy materials even after the bombs were placed on Jan. 5.

The charging documents state that he bought galvanized pipes; end caps; battery connectors; kitchen timers; electrical wire and steel wool from retailers, including Home Depot and Walmart, to make the explosives.

Cole also purchased safety glasses, sandpaper, protective gloves and disinfecting wipes in the months leading up to the attack on the Capitol, according to the affidavit.

Cellphone tower data pointed to the suspect

The affidavit states that the FBI also connected Cole to the incident through cellphone tower data. His phone pinged off cellphone towers in the area of the parties’ headquarters, according to the government. Cole’s cellphone engaged in approximately seven data session transactions with the area’s cellphone towers between 7:39 p.m. and 8:24 p.m. on Jan. 5, according to the affidavit.

Authorities also used a license plate reader to place Cole in the area around the time the pipe bombs were placed, according to the charging documents. The affidavit said Cole’s 2017 Nissan Sentra “was observed driving past a License Plate Reader at the South Capitol Street exit from Interstate 395 South, which is less than one-half mile from the location where the individual who placed the devices was first observed on foot.”

“For all of the reasons stated above, there is probable cause that, on January 5, 2021, COLE placed pipe bombs outside of the RNC and the DNC,” the affidavit reads.

Rich Schapiro and Doha Madani contributed.