Federal authorities on Thursday released more information about a man suspected of planting pipe bombs outside Republican and Democratic party headquarters in Washington, D.C., in 2021.
An affidavit revealed more information about the investigation and arrest. The FBI has not released an image of the suspect yet.
The bombs were placed outside the Republican and Democratic national party headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021, just hours before the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
Here are five things to know about the suspect.
1. The suspect is named Brian J. Cole, Jr.
He is 30 years old and works in the office of a bail bondsman in northern Virginia. He stands 5-feet-6-inches tall and wears corrective glasses.
2. Cole lived in Woodbridge, Virginia.
The suspect was living just miles away from Washington, D.C., in a single-family home with his mother and other family members.
3. Authorities used footage to investigate the incident and identify a suspect.
“Review of video surveillance footage from the evening of January 5, 2021, shows that the pipe bombs at the RNC and DNC were placed by the same individual,” according to the affidavit.
“The individual was observed on video surveillance footage at various locations in the surrounding neighborhood between approximately 7:34 p.m. and 8:18 p.m. In video surveillance, the individual was wearing dark pants, a grey hooded sweatshirt, dark gloves, Nike Air Max Speed Turf shoes, and a facemask that obscured the person’s face. The video surveillance footage shows the individual adjusting eyeglasses at times. The video surveillance footage shows the individual carrying a backpack.”
4. The FBI reviewed the suspect’s credit cards.
Authorities have accused Cole of purchasing”multiple items consistent with the components that were used to manufacture the pipe bombs placed at the RNC and DNC,” including galvanized pipe on or around “October 22, 2019, and March 10, June 20, July 8, and November 16, 2020” and “end caps” materials at two different Home Depot locations in northern Virginia.
They also indicated the suspect allegedly purchased a nine-volt battery connector from a Micro Center in northern Virginia sometime between December 2017 and January 5, 2021, and two white kitchen timers from a Walmart in northern Virginia on or about June 3, 2020.
Investigators indicated that safety glasses were purchased on or about July 8, along with several purchases in November 2020, including a wire stripping tool, wire nuts, sandpaper, a machinist’s file, and protective gloves and disinfecting wipes.
They accused Cole of making five purchases in the Washington, D.C. area in the days before the bomb planting.
5. Investigators used cell phone towers and identified the suspect’s vehicle in the area.
Authorities accused Cole of having seven connections with towers near the RNC and DNC; allegedly driving his 2017 Nissan Sentra with a Virginia license plate.
“On January 5, 2021, at approximately 7:10 p.m., Cole’s 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 near North Carolina and New Jersey Avenues, Southeast at 7:34 p.m.,” according to the affidavit.
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