The FBI used phone records, bank data, and vehicle information spanning years to determine who placed pipe bombs near the Republican and Democratic national headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021, a new court document showed.
Brian Cole, a 30-year-old Virginia resident, began purchasing items used to build bombs as early as 2019 before leaving them at the two buildings while hooded, the FBI alleged in a criminal complaint filed Wednesday. Cole was arrested Thursday morning on charges of transporting explosives with criminal intent and attempting malicious destruction by means of explosives, Department of Justice officials announced Thursday.
The #FBI released a new video of the person who placed pipe bombs in Washington, D.C., between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on January 5. If you recognize the suspect, submit a tip at https://t.co/iL7sD5efWD. Tips can remain anonymous. @FBIWFO https://t.co/MxOeYBacZR pic.twitter.com/6mCpuP46Ib
— FBI (@FBI) September 9, 2021
Cole lived with his mother and other family members in a Woodbridge home and worked nearby as a bail bondsman ahead of his arrest, the complaint said. From October 2019 to December 2020, he purchased items via six credit cards that match what law enforcement found on the bombs near the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee buildings the day after they were planted, the FBI said, citing bank records it obtained. Cole allegedly bought the supplies from stores such as Home Depot, Lowe’s, Micro Center, and Walmart.
The items included six galvanized pipes, caps used to close the ends of the pipes, nine-volt battery connectors, kitchen-style timers from Walmart, steel wool, and electrical wire, the complaint says. Throughout 2020, he also bought a wire stripping tool, sandpaper, protective gloves, and other items “that would facilitate the manufacturing of a pipe bomb,” the FBI alleged.
Officials have not revealed Cole’s alleged motive, but the Wednesday complaint sheds more light on the breadth of information that fueled the FBI’s nearly five-year manhunt. Along with the bank records, the FBI traced the suspect’s movements based on phone data that revealed his phone was “in the area of the RNC and DNC on January 5, 2021,” including several specific streets where the hooded suspect was seen walking on surveillance video, the agency wrote.
A license plate reader also detected Cole’s personal sedan driving that evening near where the suspect was first spotted, according to the FBI.
The FBI also used surveillance video for a “reverse projection photogrammetry examination,” or height analysis, that indicated the suspect was about five feet and seven inches tall, Wednesday’s complaint says.
After the RNC and DNC bombs were planted, Cole continued buying “components used in bomb making” throughout the month, including more nine-volt batteries and galvanized pipes, the FBI said.
Trump administration officials took credit for identifying Cole at a Thursday press conference, saying they simply used the information the Biden-Harris administration left them with.
“Though it had been nearly five years, our team continued to churn through massive amounts of data and tips that we used to identify the suspect,” Darren Cox, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington field office, said.
The investigation is ongoing and could lead to more charges, with agents executing a search warrant Thursday morning, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
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