FBI Arrests Jan. 6 Pipe Bomber Suspect

The FBI arrested a suspect on Thursday morning in connection with the pipe bombs that were planted in Washington on the eve of Jan. 6, 2021.

The suspect was identified as Brian Cole, a 30-year-old male who lives in northern Virginia, according to the Associated Press and other outlets.

Cole was likely arrested at a home in Prince William County in the Woodbridge area, about 35 miles out from Washington, according to NBC News. He has been linked to statements in support of anarchist ideology, according to MS NOW.

Cole is expected to be charged in federal court in Washington on Thursday. The Justice Department will hold a press conference at 1 p.m., where officials are expected to name the suspect.

The FBI detained the suspect this week, nearly five years after surveillance footage captured a person planting the devices near the Republican and Democratic national party headquarters.

“He’s very antisocial. Very,” a woman who said she had lived in the neighborhood for decades told The Post of Cole. “He keeps to himself.”

“He has a dog that he loves,” she added. “He walks every day, twice a day, to 7-Eleven with his dog and he wears his headphones.”

“He seemed very quiet. He would never make eye contact. Almost like he just didn’t see you,” added a second neighbor, a man who noted that Cole would “wear shorts all winter long, and red Crocs.”

“I’m pretty shocked,” said this neighbor, who lived in the area for seven years. “This is a very uncommonly friendly and neighborly place to live.”

The government’s lengthy investigation and years-long failure to arrest a suspect in connection with the case raised speculation about the incident, including from Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), who heads the House select subcommittee on Jan. 6.

Last month, Loudermilk requested more information about then-Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’s Secret Service detail, who appeared to miss the pipe bomb planted by the DNC headquarters during a security sweep of the area. Police later discovered the bombs on Jan. 6.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has added fuel to the fire, expressing concern in November that the FBI, CIA, and Capitol Police “are implicated in this story.”