The FBI has arrested a Virginia man in its nearly 5-year-old investigation into who placed pipe bombs in Washington, D.C., on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, protest at the U.S. Capitol, sources said Thursday.
The arrest marks the first time investigators have settled on a suspect in an act that had long vexed law enforcement, spawned a multitude of conspiracy theories, and remained an enduring mystery.
The arrest took place Thursday morning.
The suspect in custody has been identified as Brian Cole, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Two sources said he lived in Woodbridge, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C..
No other details were immediately available, including the charges Cole might face.
The people who described the arrest weren't authorized to publicly discuss a case that hasn't yet been made public and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
NBC News reported that the suspect’s step-grandfather, Earl Donnette, confirmed in a brief phone call that he spoke with the FBI about his step-grandson, but declined to comment further.
Cole’s father, Brian Cole Sr., declined to comment to NBC.
The people who described the arrest were not authorized to publicly discuss a case that has not yet been made public and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The pipe bombs were placed on the evening of Jan. 5, 2021, near the offices of the Democratic and Republican national committees in the District of Columbia. Nobody was hurt before the bombs were rendered harmless, but the FBI has said both devices could have been lethal.
In the years since, investigators have sought the public's help in identifying a shadowy subject seen on surveillance footage even as they struggled to determine answers to basic questions, including the person's gender and motive and whether the act had a clear connection to the incident at the Capitol a day later.
Seeking a breakthrough, the FBI last January publicized additional information about the investigation, including an estimate that the suspect was about 5-foot-7, as well as previously unreleased video of the suspect placing one of the bombs.
The bureau had for years struggled to pinpoint a suspect despite hundreds of tips, a review of tens of thousands of video files, and a significant number of interviews.
Dan Bongino, the current FBI deputy director, floated the possibility last year before being tapped for his job that the act was an "inside job" and involved a "massive cover-up."
But since arriving at the FBI in March, he has sought to deliver action to a restive base on the far right by promising that the pipe bombs investigation would be a top priority and defending the bureau's work.
"We brought in new personnel to take a look at the case, we flew in police officers and detectives working as TFOs (task force officers) to review FBI work, we conducted multiple internal reviews, held countless in person and SVTC meetings with investigative team members, we dramatically increased investigative resources, and we increased the public award for information in the case to utilize crowd-sourcing leads," he wrote in a long post on X last month.
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