A relative told WUSA9’s Katie Lusso, “he didn’t do it.” Saying he was “he’s more like a child.”
WASHINGTON — The FBI surrounded a northern Virginia house on Thursday morning as agents arrested the man suspected of planting two bombs in Washington; each outside a different major political party headquarters the night before the Jan. 6, 2021, riots.
“We were going to track this person to the end of the Earth; we’re not going to let him get away,” Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino said on Thursday. “We didn’t have to go to the end of the Earth; he was in Woodbridge.”
Brian Cole Jr. was identified by Attorney General Pam Bondi as her Department of Justice’s suspect on Thursday afternoon. He is accused of planting bombs outside both the Democratic National Committee headquarters on South Capitol Street Southeast and the Republican National Committee on First Street Southeast in the evening on Jan. 5, 2021. The bombs did not go off and were discovered the next day.
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FBI Director Kash Patel said Thursday that the bureau had not relied on tips or witness testimony when carrying out Cole’s arrest but instead “re-examined every piece of evidence” and “sifted through all the data.”
Submitted the day before Cole’s arrest, an FBI affidavit gives a summary of this evidence while also revealing some information about the suspect.
Debit and credit card purchases
A checking account and six credit card spending reports show Cole allegedly bought materials between 2019 and 2020 to build the pipe bombs planted in Washington on Jan. 5, 2021. According to the FBI affidavit, brand-name galvanized pipes, end caps, nine-volt battery connectors, and kitchen-style timers were all listed by the FBI as items that Cole bought — all of which appeared to match components of the pipe bombs left outside the Republican and Democratic headquarters.
Cellphone data
Cole’s cellphone reportedly had seven data session transactions with cell towers in Washington between 7:39 and 8:24 p.m. on Jan. 5, 2021. According to the FBI report, the towers that Cole’s phone interacted with covered areas that included the DNC and RNC headquarters.
The times listed in the FBI report match the time stamps on surveillance footage that shows someone planting bombs at the political party headquarters and walking around in surrounding areas between 7:34 and 8:18 p.m.
License plate reader
About 20 minutes before surveillance footage first captured the pipe bomber, the FBI report alleges a license plate reader scanned Cole’s car’s plate while he got off I-395 South onto South Capital Street — less than one and a half miles from those area surveillance cameras.
Cole had reportedly been in the area of the attempted pipe bombing in the weeks leading up to Jan. 5, 2021. According to the FBI, Cole ate at a restaurant in the area on Dec. 14, 2020.
Who is Brian Cole Jr.?
A 30-year-old bail bondsman in northern Virginia, Brian J. Cole Jr., had been living in a single-family house in Woodbridge with his mother and other family members, according to the FBI report.
Cole is 5-foot-6. His height nearly matches a description previously put out by the FBI that estimated the suspect, then unknown, was around 5-foot-7 inches.
The FBI affidavit accused Cole of two U.S. criminal code violations, one for trying to set off the explosives and the other for allegedly transporting the bombs across state lines. Each federal charge carries with it a minimum prison sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of 20 years.
A relative reached by telephone Thursday night, told WUSA9’s Katie Lusso “he didn’t do it”. When asked why they were confident that he wasn’t responsible, they said “he’s more like a child”. They wouldn’t elaborate.
People who were walking into the Woodbridge home after police left Thursday, yelled at reporters “get off our property and leave us alone”.
A neighbor described seeing FBI agents arrive around 8:30 am. He recalled seeing two women leaving the house but wasn’t able to witness his arrest.
“I saw the two green Humvee-looking vehicles out front,” the neighbor said. There were alot of men in camouflage with automatic rifles aimed at the house and over the loudspeaker saying, ‘We have a federal search warrant. Everybody please come out of the house with empty hands and your hands high.’ A couple of minutes I saw one woman come out of the house and couple of minutes later, another come out of the house. They told the second woman to prop the door open when she came out. They sent a drone in first.”
Cole graduated from Hyland High School in Woodbridge in 2013, according to Prince William County Public Schools. According to court documents he worked in the office of a bail bondsman in Northern Virginia.
Neighbors described him as someone who kept himself and frequently walked his dog.
“He was quiet,” neighbor Jesenia Lopez told WUSA9. “I just know that every time we would see him, he’d walk around his dog.”