FBI Arrests Man for Allegedly Placing Bombs in DC on Eve of Jan. 6
by Zachart Steiber, The Epoch Times.com, December 4, 2025
FBI agents have arrested a man who allegedly placed pipe bombs in Washington on Jan. 5, 2021, officials announced on Dec. 4.
The man, Brian Cole Jr., a 30-year-old employee of a bail bondsman, is accused of placing bombs consisting of a pipe, endcaps, electrical wire, a battery, and other materials near Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee buildings in Washington. He was charged with transporting explosive devices in interstate commerce and attempted destruction with explosive material.
Cole purchased items such as pipe and kitchen timers in 2019 and 2020 at stores, including Home Depot and Walmart, and used these materials to manufacture the devices, according to records obtained by investigators and described in an affidavit filed in federal court in support of the charges.Cellphone records placed Cole in the vicinity of the buildings on Jan. 5, 2021, and a Nissan Sentra he owns was spotted driving in the area that evening, an FBI agent wrote in the affidavit.
“Today’s arrest happened because the Trump administration has made this case a priority,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said at a briefing in the nation’s capital.
“There was no new tip, there was no new witness, just good, diligent police work and prosecutorial work,” she noted later.
FBI Director Kash Patel said at the briefing that there was no new information but that a new team of investigators and experts had sifted through existing evidence and generated new leads that ultimately resulted in Cole’s arrest.
Patel said 3 million “lines of information” were pored over and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said the investigation included going through 233,000 sales of the type of black endcaps used to build the bombs and find a common link with purchases of pipe, wires, and other materials.
🚨 JUST IN — DAN BONGINO on why the Biden admin didn’t find the J6 pipe bomber:
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) December 5, 2025
“I don’t know WHAT THE HELL the prior leadership was doing outside of—you know—targeting political opponents, weaponizing the FBI, destroying its reputation…”
“It’s almost like they were… pic.twitter.com/61wa1HPzfK
Cole resides in Woodbridge, Virginia, with his mother and other relatives, officials said. He did not have a lawyer listed on the court docket. Emails sent to addresses associated with him went unreturned.
Search warrants are being executed at places associated with Cole, officials said. The overall investigation is active and additional charges may be brought.
Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino stresses the J6 pipe bomber case is just getting started.
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 5, 2025
“You could see more tomorrow.”
He says today was just chapter 1 of a 20 chapter book.
“This investigation is not over. It has just begun.”
pic.twitter.com/uuIaJxUZwU
“The FBI’s arrest of the alleged January 6 pipe bomber is a tremendous breakthrough in a mystery that has haunted the country for nearly five years,” Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), chairman of a House of Representatives select subcommittee investigating Jan. 6, said in a post on X.
“I want to thank the FBI for their diligence and continued partnership with my Select Subcommittee in sharing documents, informant information, and other evidence.”
Patel said on X on Dec. 4: “When Dan Bongino and I came to the FBI in March, the pipe bomb investigation had been stalled for going on 5 years. We rebuilt it from scratch—re-running every lead, re-testing every piece of evidence, bringing in top experts, and deploying new technology to engineer the break that finally nailed the suspect.”
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