The federal government finally delivered long overdue accountability when agents arrested Brian Cole Jr., the man accused of planting pipe bombs outside the Republican and Democratic National Committees the night before the events of Jan. 6. The breakthrough came only after the Trump administration pulled the case out of the grave where Biden officials left it.

Cole’s face, unseen since 2021, emerged first through a resurfaced Instagram photo shared by his mother in 2024. Instead of the shadowy hooded figure seen in early footage, Americans now saw a well-dressed young man smiling in a blue dress shirt and tie.

Cole’s arrest unfolded in Woodbridge, Virginia, where a swarm of federal agents converged on his family home. Neighbors described a quiet, isolated figure who avoided eye contact and rarely spoke, offering a stark contrast to the suspect who allegedly moved through Washington with explosive devices.

Attorney General Pam Bondi made the significance clear. She announced that the Trump administration put muscle behind an investigation the Biden team allowed to languish. She said the lack of movement earlier had undermined public confidence in federal law enforcement.

Bondi explained that the evidence used to track Cole was not new. It was evidence the Biden FBI left collecting dust while officials focused on political optics. Cole might have walked free permanently if the administration had not changed hands.

FBI Director Kash Patel emphasized the same point. He said Biden-era officials refused to take action on leads that could have led to Cole years earlier. Under new leadership, the Bureau assigned a fresh investigative team and reexamined every line of forensic data.

Investigators discovered that Cole began collecting bomb-making materials as early as the fall of 2019. Charging documents say he visited at least eight Home Depots in northern Virginia, along with Micro Center, Lowes, and Walmart, to stockpile electrical wire, explosive caps, steel pipe, and batteries.

Agents believe Cole assembled the bombs from eight-inch galvanized steel pipes capped and wired to nine-volt batteries and household ignition components. The feds described the devices as viable and capable of serious destruction.

Surveillance footage from January 5, 2021, showed a hooded figure wearing gloves, a mask, glasses, and Nike Air Max Speed Turf sneakers. Investigators now say that person was Cole. He was seen moving around Capitol Hill with a backpack before placing the devices at both party headquarters.