The man charged with planting two pipe bombs in Washington, D.C., on the eve of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot told the FBI he believed the 2020 election was stolen, according to a report.
Brian Cole Jr., 30, of Woodbridge, Virginia, was arrested on Thursday and is now speaking with the FBI, people briefed on the matter told CNN. Sources separately told NBC News that Cole told the FBI he believed conspiracy theories about the election.
Federal prosecutors charged Cole with transporting explosive materials across state lines and attempting to destroy a building with explosives. He is scheduled to appear in D.C. federal court on Friday afternoon and has not yet entered a plea.
It provides an insight into a possible motive for planting the explosives near the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters the night before a mob of President Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in 2021, according to CNN.
The pipe bombs didn’t detonate. The FBI has not yet publicly cited a motive in the case.
Cole made the admission as FBI investigators grilled him for hours following his arrest, sources told CNN. Officials believe the 30-year-old spent months gathering supplies to build the explosive devices.
After losing to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020, Trump for weeks pushed the baseless claims that the election was stolen from him and that there was evidence of widespread voter fraud—allegations that have been widely discredited.
The FBI declined to comment when contacted by the Daily Beast.
Cole has no criminal record and was not registered to vote, according to the Associated Press. But he has been described as “an extremist in his political beliefs,” according to The Washington Post which spoke with two people familiar with the matter.
Neighbors interviewed by CNN described him as a “reclusive presence” who took lengthy walks with his pet dog, often wearing headphones.
Attorney General Pam Bondi told reporters Thursday that an investigation into the matter is still ongoing.
“It’s very active. Search warrants are still being executed. Many charges potentially to come,” said Bondi, adding that the arrest, which came nearly five years after the pipe bombs were planted, didn’t culminate from new tips or witnesses, but from months of “good, diligent police work and prosecutorial work.”
“You’re not going to walk into our capital city, put down two explosive devices and walk off in the sunset,” said FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino on Thursday. “Not going to happen. We were going to track this person to the end of the earth. There was no way he was getting away.”
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