Brian Cole has been identified as the suspect who allegedly planted pipe bombs outside both the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, according to reports from the New York Post and Daily Mail, which cite law enforcement sources.
Who is Brian Cole?
Brian Cole, 30, is a resident of Woodbridge, Virginia. He was taken into custody Thursday morning and is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in Washington, D.C., at 1 p.m. The exact charges are not clear so far.
The two pipe bombs were placed on the evening of Jan. 5, 2021, near the DNC and RNC offices in Washington, D.C.
Although the devices were safely disarmed and no one was injured, the FBI has said both bombs were viable and could have been deadly.
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CCTV footage
Surveillance video showed a hooded suspect placing a backpack on South Capitol Street. The person then put on glasses, scanned the area, and walked away.
{{/usCountry}}Surveillance video showed a hooded suspect placing a backpack on South Capitol Street. The person then put on glasses, scanned the area, and walked away.
{{/usCountry}}Footage next captured the suspect at the DNC headquarters, where a device was planted at 7:54 p.m.
The suspect then walked to the RNC headquarters and placed a second device at 8:16 p.m. He was last seen two minutes later.
He wore a face mask, glasses, a gray hoodie, gloves, and black-and-light-gray Nike Air Max Speed Turf shoes with a yellow logo.
Both explosive devices were found the next day. This was just hours before crowds of Donald Trump supporters arrived in Washington, D.C., to protest the 2020 election results.
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The FBI released many photos and video clips of the masked suspect over the years and eventually raised the reward to $500,000.