Surveillance footage from January 5, 2021, showed a hooded figure wearing gloves, a mask, glasses, and Nike Air Max Speed Turf sneakers. Investigators now say that person was Cole. He was seen moving around Capitol Hill with a backpack before placing the devices at both party headquarters.
The bombs were found the next afternoon, around the same time Congress gathered to certify the 2020 vote. While chaos erupted at the Capitol, federal agents rushed to disarm the devices before anyone was hurt.
Despite the severity of the threat, the Biden administration allowed the investigation to stall. Rewards were offered, but no serious breakthrough happened until the Trump administration revisited the entire case.
The Trump Justice Department renewed the reward in October and released new surveillance footage. Bondi said this renewed push triggered new leads, search warrants, and the eventual confirmation of Cole’s identity.
Patel noted that investigators sifted through more than three million lines of cellphone data. Cell tower records placed Cole at both the RNC and DNC locations at the exact times the devices were planted.
According to investigators, one bomb was planted near the DNC at 7:54 p.m. and the second near the RNC at 8:16 p.m. Both were positioned to detonate at a moment of maximum political sensitivity.
The arrest came after agents assembled a detailed map of Cole’s purchases, movements, and behavior stretching back five years. The Biden administration had access to the same information but lacked the political will to act.
Neighbors in Woodbridge said Cole largely kept to himself. One woman said he was extremely antisocial and rarely looked anyone in the eye. Another neighbor described him walking to a nearby 7-Eleven every day with his Chihuahua and wearing shorts in all seasons.
Some neighbors even expressed doubt that Cole could be the suspect in the footage, citing his gait and physical features. Federal investigators, however, matched his location data, purchases, and other forensic evidence to the crime.
Bondi said multiple agencies had participated in the revived investigation, including the FBI, ATF, Capitol Police, D.C. Metropolitan Police, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. She called the arrest a model of disciplined investigative work.
Patel said accountability came only after the Bureau refocused on law enforcement instead of political priorities. He said the new administration made it clear that violent threats against the nation’s capital would not be ignored or minimized.
Federal officials confirmed that Cole faces charges including transporting explosives across state lines with intent to kill or injure, and attempted malicious destruction using explosive materials. Additional charges remain possible.
Video released earlier showed the suspect calmly placing the devices near trash bins and walking away under the cover of darkness. Investigators later found the bombs intact, rigged, and ready for detonation.
With the five-year anniversary of Jan. 6 approaching, the arrest symbolized the return of a Justice Department focused on public safety rather than political showmanship. Officials criticized the previous administration for its failure to take the threat seriously.
As acting U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro told reporters, the arrest marked the first step toward long overdue accountability. She said her office intends to take the case to completion and deliver justice.
While much remains unknown about Cole’s motives, the investigation has already exposed major failures under Biden’s leadership. Officials said the previous administration’s negligence allowed a dangerous suspect to live freely for nearly half a decade.
Cole’s face, unseen since 2021, emerged first through a resurfaced Instagram photo shared by his mother in 2024. Instead of the shadowy hooded figure seen in early footage, Americans now saw a well-dressed young man smiling in a blue dress shirt and tie.
Cole’s arrest unfolded in Woodbridge, Virginia, where a swarm of federal agents converged on his family home. Neighbors described a quiet, isolated figure who avoided eye contact and rarely spoke, offering a stark contrast to the suspect who allegedly moved through Washington with explosive devices.
Attorney General Pam Bondi made the significance clear. She announced that the Trump administration put muscle behind an investigation the Biden team allowed to languish. She said the lack of movement earlier had undermined public confidence in federal law enforcement.
Bondi explained that the evidence used to track Cole was not new. It was evidence the Biden FBI left collecting dust while officials focused on political optics. Cole might have walked free permanently if the administration had not changed hands.
FBI Director Kash Patel emphasized the same point. He said Biden-era officials refused to take action on leads that could have led to Cole years earlier. Under new leadership, the Bureau assigned a fresh investigative team and reexamined every line of forensic data.
Investigators discovered that Cole began collecting bomb-making materials as early as the fall of 2019. Charging documents say he visited at least eight Home Depots in northern Virginia, along with Micro Center, Lowes, and Walmart, to stockpile electrical wire, explosive caps, steel pipe, and batteries.
Agents believe Cole assembled the bombs from eight-inch galvanized steel pipes capped and wired to nine-volt batteries and household ignition components. The feds described the devices as viable and capable of serious destruction.
BREAKING: Massive New Update on J6 Pipe Bomber, After FBI Makes Arrest 
The federal government finally delivered long overdue accountability when agents arrested Brian Cole Jr., the man accused of planting pipe bombs outside the Republican and Democratic National Committees the night before the events of Jan. 6. The breakthrough came only after the Trump administration pulled the case out of the grave where Biden officials left it.