A man suspected of planting pipe bombs outside Democratic and Republican party headquarters in Washington, D.C., on the eve of Jan. 6, 2021, siege, on the U.S. Capitol was arrested Thursday, authorities say. Brian Cole Jr., 30, of Woodbridge, Virginia, was charged with transporting an explosive d evice and attempted malicious destruction by means of explosive materials, according to charging documents filed Thursday afternoon. Additional charges are possible, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said at a news conference. The arrest marks a breakthrough in a case that has stymied investigators for nearly five years. “I’m proud to stand here before you and say we solved it. He will have his day in court. The American public and the world will learn even more information through the legal process,” FBI Director Kash Patel said. “You’re not going to walk into our capital city, put down two explosive devices and walk off in the sunset. Not going to happen. We were going to track this person to the end of the earth. There was no way he was getting away. We didn’t have to track him to the end of the earth. We wound up in Woodbridge, Virginia,” Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino said. Investigators were seen at Cole’s home in Woodbridge on Thursday morning. NBC Washington video from the air and on the ground shows the FBI and other law enforcement officials at a home on Manor House Court, about 30 miles southwest of D.C., on Thursday morning. Property records indicate a man with Cole’s name owns a home on the cul-de-sac. The suspect’s step-grandfather, Earl Donnette, said in a brief phone call with NBC News that he spoke with the FBI about his step-grandson, but declined to comment further. Cole’s father, Brian Cole Sr., declined to comment. Cole lives with his mother and other relatives and works for a bail bonds office, court documents say. He graduated from C.D. Hylton High School in Woodbridge in 2013, a school district spokesperson confirmed. 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 in the shadow of the dark chapter of American history that is the violent Capitol siege. What we know about how the FBI identified the pipe bomb suspect Patel said investigators “did not discover any new information” but “brought in a new team of investigators and experts, reexamined every piece of evidence, sifted through all the data – something that the prior administration refused and failed to do. As a result of that, we generated numerous investigative leads, executed multiple legal process [sic] with our U.S. attorney partners and came to this conclusion today.” In an affidavit, an FBI special agent laid out the evidence that led investigators to Cole. The FBI analyzed his credit card and cellphone records. The agency says he bought bomb-making materials at stores in Northern Virginia including Home Depot, Lowe’s, Micro Center and Walmart. Investigators say they tracked his 2017 Nissan Sentra on a license plate reader in D.C. the night of Jan. 5 about a half-mile from where the bombs were placed. An investigation into the suspect’s motive is ongoing, Bondi said. Neighbors stunned by suspect’s arrest A neighbor who lives near Cole said he was shocked to learn the pipe bomb suspect resided on the same block. “I never suspected anything nefarious going on at that house,” said the neighbor, who requested anonymity over concerns it could impact his future employment. “I haven’t seen anything at all that would cause me concern.” The neighbor said his daughter heard bullhorns outside at about 8:15 a.m. She looked out the window and saw officers outside the suspect’s home ordering people inside to come out with their hands raised. The neighbor said it’s a quiet block where neighbors are friendly but that he didn’t have any interaction with the people who lived at that address. “Nothing ever happens here,” the neighbor said. “It’s like sleepytown.” Chaos at the DNC and RNC on Jan. 6, 2021 The pipe bombs were placed on the evening of Jan. 5, 2021, near the offices of the Democratic and Republican national committees. Nobody was hurt before the bombs were rendered safe, 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 camera 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 riot at the Capitol a day later, when supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the building in a bid to halt the certification of the Republican’s 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Seeking a breakthrough, the FBI publicized additional information about the investigation, including previously unreleased video of the suspect placing one of the bombs. Video showed the suspect spending close to an hour moving through the surrounding blocks on Capitol Hill, pausing on a park bench, cutting through an alley and stopping again as a dog walker passed. A team of investigators pored over videos of the suspect and analyzed the person’s gait and distinctive shoes. The FBI said in October that the suspect stands about 5-foot-7 and was wearing black, gray and yellow Nike Air Max Speed Turf sneakers. Fewer than 25,000 of the shoes were sold in about a two-year period, they learned. Agents paired their video review with a broad sweep of digital records. They gathered cell tower data showing which phones were active in the neighborhood at the time and issued subpoenas to several tech companies, including Google, for location information. Investigators also analyzed credit card transactions from hobby shops and major retailers to identify customers who had purchased components resembling those used in the two explosive devices — each roughly 1 foot long and packed with gunpowder and metal, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation. Agents filed subpoenas for credit card records from Foot Locker and other chains as they worked to narrow down potential buyers of the shoes. Still, for years, they had no solid breakthroughs. Kamala Harris Jan 6, 2022 Kamala Harris Was at DNC Last Jan. 6 When Pipe Bomb Was Found Outside 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. In 2023, the FBI raised the reward for providing information that led to an arrest from $100,000 to $500,000. Conspiracy theories about the pipe bombs spread In the absence of harder evidence, Republican lawmakers and right-wing media outlets promoted conspiracy theories about the pipe bombs. House Republicans also criticized security lapses, questioning how law enforcement failed to detect the bombs for 17 hours. 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. ...read more read less