Gavin Newsom raised a pertinent question about the arrest of the man authorities say placed pipe bombs near the Capitol on the eve of the Jan. 6 insurrection.
The California Democrat, pointing to Donald Trump’s mass pardons and commutations of Jan. 6 rioters’ sentences, wondered if the suspect, 30-year-old Brian Cole Jr. of Woodbridge, Virginia, would be able to successfully claim that his prosecution is moot.
“Anyone want to tell KA$H about this?” Newsom’s press office wrote Thursday on X, linking to the president’s January executive order after Patel proudly talked about the pipe bombing suspect’s arrest and the seriousness of attacking the Capitol.
“When you attack American citizens, when you attack our institutions of legislation, when you attack our nation’s Capitol, you attack the very being of our way of life,” Patel, 45, claimed.
On his first day back in office, Trump, 79, rewarded his supporters by issuing about 1,500 pardons and commutations of Jan. 6 rioters. The executive order applied to those convicted or accused of “offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.”
That broad language seemingly opens the door for Cole to claim that his activity shouldn’t warrant prosecution. Authorities have charged him with bringing explosive materials over state lines and attempting to destroy a building with explosives, according to a criminal complaint seen by The New York Times. Cole allegedly placed a pipe bomb outside the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee the night before Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally. The pipe bombs did not detonate.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the FBI for comment.
The nearly five-year investigation was finally broken open, Patel said Thursday, due to a re-examination of evidence already possessed by the FBI, rather than any new information or a tip from the public.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino last year claimed the attempted bombing was part of an “inside job” that the agency he’s now part of was trying to cover up.
“This was a setup,” Bongino, 51, insisted then. “I have zero doubt.”
On Thursday, the former podcaster and Secret Service agent also talked about Trump going after the “bad guys” in the Capitol area, seemingly without any irony.
“You’re not going to walk into our capital city, put down two explosive devices and walk off in the sunset,” he said. “This is what it’s like when you work for a president who tells you to get the bad guys.”
Cole, according to some neighbors who spoke to CNN, was not particularly social with them.
“They said they often saw him out in the neighborhood walking his chihuahua, but that he was a very reclusive figure, never really interacted with people—almost was antisocial, in the words of one neighbor,” CNN’s Brian Todd explained.
“They described him walking his chihuahua for long walks frequently, several times a day, sometimes even at maybe two in the morning,” he added. “One neighbor said he would never make eye contact with you. He would always wear headphones, never speak to you except to say hello.”
Authorities have not released any information on Cole’s alleged motive.
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