The suspect in the Jan. 6 pipe bomb case has confessed to authorities and told them he believed President Trump’s conspiracy theories that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
Brian Cole Jr. has admitted to investigators that he left twin pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican national committees the evening before Trump gave a fiery speech claiming the presidential election was rigged, spurring thousands of supporters to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The 30-year-old suburban Virginia man also said he agreed with Trump’s debunked claims that former President Biden didn’t really beat him in the 2020 election, although it was not immediately clear if investigators consider those beliefs to be the primary motive for the attempted attacks.
He was expected to make an initial court appearance Friday, when more information may be revealed about the case against Cole, who’s said to be a loner who lived with his mom and has scant public profile or social media footprint.
AP Photo/Steve Helber; FBI
At main, Prince William County police block the street near the house where the FBI made an arrest, in Woodbridge, Va., Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Here’s what we know about the case so far:
What Cole told the FBI
Cole said he planted the bombs and that he supports Trump and the president’s lies about the 2020 election.
But it’s not clear if the alleged crime was directly tied to the shocking attack on the Capitol that unfolded the next day or if Cole acted in coordination with others who plotted the violence hours later.
The bombs were planted on the evening of Jan. 5, 2021, and discovered by authorities the next day just as thousands of Trump supporters were marching on the Capitol after Trump told them to “fight like hell” to keep him in power despite Biden’s win.
It’s still not known if the pipe bombs were intended to divert attention of law enforcement from the Jan. 6 rally and attack or if they were aimed at somehow pressuring Congress not to certify Biden’s win like the attack on the Capitol.
Brief court appearance
Cole briefly appeared Friday in a federal court in Washington D.C. and a judge ordered him jailed pending a Dec. 15 hearing.
The hearing lasted just 10 minutes and prosecutors revealed that he spoke to investigators for four hours after his arrest on Thursday. He wasn’t asked to enter a plea.
Relatives shouted “we love you” as Cole was led back into custody after the hearing.
Would Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons cover Cole?
On his first day of his second term, Trump issued sweeping pardons to hundreds of supporters convicted or facing trial in connection with Jan. 6 crimes, including some who attacked Capitol Police officers and white nationalist who planned the attack.
The wording of the pardon refers to crimes “committed on Jan. 6, 2021,” leaving it unclear whether it might apply to Cole since the pipe bombs were planted on Jan. 5.
A long, intricate probe
Authorities spent nearly five years tracking down Cole, who they say was captured on grainy surveillance video images leaving the explosives outside the DNC and RNC headquarters.
Law enforcement officials used credit purchases of bomb-making materials, cellphone tower data and a license plate reader to zero in on Cole, according to an FBI affidavit filed in the case.
Cole’s bank account and credit card information showed he bought materials in 2019 and 2020 consistent with those used to make the pipe bombs, according to court papers. This included galvanized pipes and white kitchen-style timers, according to the affidavit.
Cole’s 2017 Nissan Sentra was captured by a license plate reader less than a half mile from the spot where the attacker was first spotted on foot around 7:34 p.m. on Jan. 5, 2021.
‘Well-behaved and quiet’
Cole lived with his mother and other relatives in a five-bedroom house on a quiet Virginia cul-de-sac about 30 miles from Washington, D.C.
He graduated from a local high school, has no criminal record and was not registered to vote.
One of four children, he worked in the office of his father, a bail bondsman. The parents divorced in 2020, three months before the pipe bombs were planted.
Neighbors said they occasionally saw Cole walking the family’s small dog. A high school classmate who lived in the same neighborhood and rode the bus with Cole described him as friendly but said he didn’t speak much.
“He didn’t stand out,” said the classmate. “As far as I remember, he was well-behaved and quiet.”
