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Brian Cole Jr: How DC bomber's Nike Air shoes, cell location and Nissan Sentra car led to his arrest
FBI tied Cole Jr. to the pipe bombs using his Nike Air shoes, his car and phone activity pinging towers near the RNC and DNC when the devices were planted.
Brian Cole Jr, the suspect arrested in the Washington DC pipe bombing case a day before the January 6, 2021, Capitol Hill riots, was identified through surveillance footage where he was seen planting the bombs and leaving the location.
In the footage, a pair of Nike Air sneakers that Brian Cole Jr was wearing proved crucial for the investigators. Unable to make any headway into the case, the FBI released images of the suspect from the footage, seeking the public's help in identifying the suspect.
Among the photos shared were the suspect's dark pants, a grey hooded sweatshirt, dark gloves, Nike Air Max Speed Turf shoes, and a facemask. These were the starting point of the probe, but, later, FBI found more incriminating evidence with which Cole Jr was identified as the suspect, a release from the US Department of Justice said.
"On January 5, 2021, about 7:10 p.m., Cole’s Nissan Sentra was observed driving past a License Plate Reader at the South Capitol Street exit from I-395 South, which is less than one-half mile from the location where the individual who placed the devices was first observed on foot near North Carolina and New Jersey Avenues, Southeast," the release said about the ongoing probe.
Also read: Brian Cole: DC pipe bomb suspect's mom, Delicia, trolled on social media; ‘he wanted to…’
The probe also found that Cole’s mobile communicated with towers in the area of the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee on the evening of January 5, 2021, when the two bombs were planted.
At a press conference on Thursday, Attorney General Pam Bondi revealed that Brian Cole will be charged with the use of an explosive device. "The investigation is ongoing," Bondi said.
Brian Cole Jr has been identified as 30-year-old male from Woodbridge, Virginia.
