Virginia Man Spent A Year Quietly Buying Parts For RNC, DNC Pipe Bombs In DC: Feds

By Zak Failla From Daily Voice

A Woodbridge man is accused of quietly stockpiling bomb parts for more than a year before federal agents say he planted two pipe bombs outside the RNC and DNC in DC on the eve of Jan. 6 — then slipped back into Virginia like nothing happened.

Brian J. Cole Jr., 30, was taken into custody Thursday, Dec. 4, after investigators say they finally connected the dots they had been chasing since 2021. 

Cole is charged with transporting an explosive in interstate commerce with intent to kill, injure, or intimidate, and with attempted malicious destruction using fire and explosive materials, authorities announced.

Federal officials did not underplay the moment. 

“The well-being of our society rests on our ability as law enforcement to safeguard our citizens,” US Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro said. “When bad actors intervene to disrupt and threaten that peace – to destroy the very fabric of our country – we must, we do, and we will track them down and hold them to account for their crimes to the full extent of the law.”

Investigators say Cole didn’t buy a kit. He built one. Slowly. Patiently. Over months. 

According to the complaint, Cole went on a slow-motion shopping run that read like a pipe bomb checklist. Galvanized pipes. End caps. Timers. Wiring. Steel wool. Nine-volt connectors. Tools to grind and sand it all down. 

Every piece later showed up inside the devices found outside the RNC and DNC, the FBI said.

Components used to make the bombs.

FBI

Attorney General Pamela Bondi said the arrest only happened because investigators restarted the case from scratch. 

“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,” she said. “The American people are safer thanks to this morning’s successful operation.”

Video shows the bomber moving through Capitol Hill dressed in a gray hoodie, dark pants, gloves, a mask, eyeglasses, and Nike Air Max Speed Turf shoes. The footage was shot in Washington, DC, on Jan. 5, 2021, the FBI said. 

Investigators said he set the DNC device at about 7:54 p.m. and the RNC device at about 8:16 p.m.

The complaint says Cole’s cell phone hit the same cell towers, at the same angles, at the same times the bomber was caught on video, FBI CAST analysis said. His 2017 Nissan Sentra was also picked up by a license plate reader at 7:10 p.m. — less than half a mile from the bomber’s first recorded on-foot appearance at 7:34 p.m.

The affidavit also notes a small but striking detail: Cole almost never made purchases in DC. 

Between 2018 and 2021, he made just five. One of them came on Dec. 14, 2020, when he bought food from a restaurant on First Street Southeast, the FBI said. That restaurant sits across from Rumsey Court, the narrow alley the bomber used to approach the RNC drop point three weeks later.

FBI Director Kash Patel said teams went through every inch of the case after taking over nine months ago. 

“Although almost five years have passed, this shows the FBI will never rest in bringing justice to those who endanger American lives and our communities,” Patel said. “I would like to thank our Washington Field Office, FBI personnel across the country, and our partners for their hard work and dedication, which led to this arrest.”

Deputy Director Dan Bongino added, “The pipe bombs could have caused devastating loss of life and injuries, as well as property damage." 

"I want to thank the FBI employees who worked on this over the years, our law enforcement partners who assisted in the investigation, and the American people for the tips they shared with us.”

Investigators say the devices were legitimate. 

Both contained black powder, wiring, battery connectors, timers, metal pipes, and steel wool. They were viable. They were built to harm. They were sitting in residential and commercial blocks just south of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, USCP Hazardous Devices Section said.

The complaint says the investigation spanned 1,200 visits, 1,000 interviews, 39,000 videos, and more than 600 tips. 

Nearly five years of leads eventually worked backward into a name, according to FBI Assistant Director in Charge Darren Cox.

“The FBI and our partners do not forget. We do not give up. We do not relent," he said. "For nearly five years, the investigative team combed through a massive amount of data and leads to identify the suspect arrested today.”

Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department said, “Today's actions underscore the long memory and reach of the FBI.”

According to federal officials, the case is still active, and additional charges are possible.

The complete complaint can be found here.