Federal authorities have arrested Brian Cole Jr., a 30-year-old bail bondsman from Woodbridge, Virginia, on charges that he planted pipe bombs outside the Democratic and Republican national committee headquarters on January 5, 2021, the night before the Capitol riot. Charging documents and law enforcement officials say investigators linked him to years of purchases of bomb-making components and to cell phone and vehicle data placing him near the sites. The arrest comes nearly five years after the devices were discovered, following an internal review of the stalled case under new FBI leadership.
Brian Cole Jr., 30, is described in an FBI affidavit as 5 feet 6 inches tall, working at a bail bondsman’s office, and living with his mother in Woodbridge, Virginia, according to reporting by The Daily Wire and other outlets.
Federal investigators allege in recently unsealed charging papers that Cole planted two pipe bombs outside the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters on the evening of January 5, 2021, hours before the January 6 Capitol riot. The devices were discovered the next day and did not detonate, but the FBI has said they were viable explosive devices that could have caused serious injury or death, as reported by Forbes and the Associated Press.
According to an FBI affidavit cited by The Daily Wire, Cole began purchasing materials used in the bombs in May 2019, well before the 2020 election. Investigators say he bought six pipes, 12 black end caps, and electrical wires from multiple Home Depot stores between May 2019 and November 2020. The affidavit also states that he purchased steel wool that was later found packed inside the bombs, five nine-volt battery connectors from Micro Center — some bought with cash — and kitchen timers from Walmart. On November 24, 2020, he allegedly bought tools including protective gloves and disinfectant wipes.
Cell phone records described in the affidavit show Cole’s device in the vicinity of the RNC and DNC between 7:39 p.m. and 8:24 p.m. on January 5, 2021, The Daily Wire reports. Data first provided by his cell phone provider in February 2021 contained an error that was corrected two months later, according to those charging documents. The papers also say Cole’s 2017 Nissan Sentra with Virginia plates was captured by a license plate reader on I-395 South near the Capitol at 7:34 p.m. that evening, and that three weeks earlier, on December 14, 2020, he made a food purchase at a restaurant in the same general area.
The FBI had long offered a reward of up to $500,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of the person who planted the bombs, a figure reported by Forbes, the Washington Post, and other outlets. At a press conference announcing the arrest, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said investigators ultimately identified Cole through their own work rather than a public tip. According to remarks quoted by The Daily Wire, Bongino said, “You are not going to walk into our capital city, put down two explosive devices, and get away. We would track him to the end of the earth. We didn’t have to track him that far, he wound up being in Woodbridge, Virginia.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi, speaking at the same news conference, criticized how the investigation was handled before the current FBI leadership took over. As reported by The Daily Wire, she said, “The total lack of movement undermined trust in law enforcement,” and added that the case “languished for four years until Kash Patel and Dan Bongino came to the FBI. There was no new tip, no new witness, the information had been sitting at the FBI for four years.” Bondi and other officials have emphasized that the arrest followed renewed internal reviews and an intensive reexamination of existing evidence.
Cole worked for his father’s bail bond company, StateWide Bonding, Inc., which marketed itself as specializing in immigration bonds to secure the release of undocumented immigrants from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, according to corporate and court records cited by The Daily Wire. The outlet reports that StateWide Bonding sued the Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security over policies it claimed imposed unfair financial penalties when clients failed to appear in immigration court. On November 10, 2020, weeks before the bombs were planted, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the dismissal of the company’s claims, ruling in favor of the administration.
In November 2021, Cole’s father appeared alongside civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump at a press conference in Tennessee accusing Rutherford County Assistant District Attorney John Zimmerman of racial discrimination against their minority-owned bail bond business, according to local coverage cited by The Daily Wire. In video of the event, Cole Sr. said of the prosecutor, “He’s defamed me, he’s called my insurance company… We hope the Department of Justice can come in and do a brief investigation because we’ve seen a lot of questionable acts that Mr. Zimmerman has demonstrated towards minority-owned companies.” Crump added, “It is appalling and we want these allegations to be investigated to the highest level of government.”
A Tennessee Court of Appeals decision in April 2025 affirmed sanctions against the company for repeated misconduct, finding that the elder Cole had made false statements about never having filed for bankruptcy or having other financial problems, when in fact he had filed for bankruptcy twice and had tax liens against him, according to the appellate ruling summarized by The Daily Wire.
Cole faces federal charges related to the alleged use and transportation of explosive devices; officials have said additional charges are possible as the investigation continues. Authorities have not publicly identified a motive and have not alleged that anyone else has been charged in connection with the pipe bombs. The case remains active, and Cole is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty in court.
