DC pipe bomb suspect Brian Cole, Jr. confessed to planting 2 devices outside Democratic and Republican offices in Washington, D.C. on January 5, 2021.
Cole confessed after FBI agents arrested him at his parents’ home in Woodbridge, Virginia on Thursday morning.
Cole Jr., 30, also told federal agents that he believed the 2020 election was stolen from President Donald Trump, according to a source who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The feds believe Cole Jr. is the shadowy figure seen wearing a hoodie, jeans, facemask and carrying a backpack in surveillance videos. The man is seen planting devices at DNC and RNC National Committee headquarters on the eve of the January 6 U.S. Capitol protests.
The bombs did not detonate.
The FBI has arrested a man in connection with two pipe bombs that were planted outside the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee headquarters the night before the Jan. 6 Capitol riot in 2021. https://t.co/8XwXxR645V pic.twitter.com/Xvnbktpe9n
— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 4, 2025
Cole Jr. was identified through evidence including license plate readers, credit card receipts and data from cell phone towers in Virginia and Washington, DC.
US Attorney Pam Bondi is pictured with FBI Director Kash Patel (left) and Dan Bongino, deputy director of the FBI (right) at a press conference on Thursday, December 4.
Bondi said the DC pipe bomb case “languished” under the previous administration.
“Today’s arrest was the result of good, diligent police work and collaboration on a case that languished for four years under the prior administration,” said Bondi. “The American people are safer thanks to this morning’s successful operation.”
“The total lack of movement in this case in our nation’s capital undermined the public trust of our enforcement agencies,” Bondi added.
An FBI affidavit released to the public on Thursday revealed the FBI focused on credit card receipts that show Cole Jr. purchasing bomb components over a period of 15 months.
Feds say Cole Jr. spaced out the purchases over 15 months so the pipe bombs couldn’t be traced back to him.
Brian Cole Sr. (right), a bail bondsman in Northern Virginia, was previously represented by Ben Crump (left) in a racial discrimination case involving his bail bonds companies in 2021.
Cole Sr. has not commented publicly on his son’s arrest.
Delicia Cole, the suspect’s mother, turned off comments on all posts on her Instagram page after IG users commented on a photo of Brian Jr. that she posted on National Son’s Day in 2024.
“He’s adorable & I see some demon in those eyes,” one user wrote.
Cole’s sister, Brittany, deleted her X (Twitter) page after her OnlyFans-style photos went viral on Thursday, Dec. 4.
