FBI arrest Virginia man accused of planting pipe bombs in Washington in 2021

The FBI arrested a man suspected of planting pipe bombs in Washington the night before the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Thursday.

The authorities released surveillance video, offered a $500,000 US reward and received hundreds of tips in a years-long search for the suspect they believe was involved in the incident that took place nearly five years ago.

The footage, from Jan. 5, 2021, showed a person placing a bomb near a bench outside the Democratic National Committee building. The suspect placed another bomb at the Republican headquarters. Both sites are near the Capitol.

The suspect is Brian Cole, Jr., Bondi said.

According to the criminal complaint Cole, 30, lives “in a single-family house with his mother and other family members” in Woodbridge, Va., and “works in the office of a bail bondsman in northern Virginia.”

Prosecutors said Cole has been charged with explosives offenses.

Leads pursued on bomb material, shoes

The bombs were discovered on the same day that Trump supporters stormed Congress in an attempt to stop lawmakers from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory.

Police deactivated the bombs and neither exploded.

In the years since, investigators have sought the public’s help in identifying a shadowy individual seen on surveillance cameras even as they struggled to determine answers to basic questions, including the person’s gender and motive and whether the act even had a clear connection to the riot at the Capitol a day later.

Seeking a breakthrough, the FBI last January publicized additional information about the investigation, including an estimate that the suspect was about 5’7″, as well as previously unreleased video of the suspect placing one of the bombs.

The bureau had struggled for years to pinpoint a suspect despite hundreds of tips, a review of tens of thousands of video files and a significant number of interviews.

On Jan. 6, 2021, rioters surged past police barricades, assaulting about 140 officers and causing more than $2.8 million US in damage.

Trump pardoned nearly everyone criminally charged for participating in the riot, some 1,500 people, when he returned to office in January.