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Hardware Purchases and Location Data: How the FBI Says It Made an Arrest in the DC Pipe Bomb Case, Nearly Five Years Later

Renewed FBI focus and forensic analysis of 39,000 videos and purchase records led to Brian Cole Jr.'s arrest nearly five years after pipe bombs targeted DNC and RNC sites.

  • On Thursday, prosecutors announced federal charges against Brian Cole Jr. after FBI agents executed a SWAT-style raid at a Woodbridge, Virginia, residence.
  • A decision was made to re-open and staff the case, as FBI Director Patel this year brought in new experts and Trump administration officials said renewed focus helped the breakthrough.
  • Investigators reanalyzed roughly 39,000 video files and used purchase histories, historical cell-site records, and a license-plate reader tying a 2017 Nissan Sentra near the scene.
  • Authorities say the arrest answers who placed two pipe bombs near the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee on January 6, 2021, resolving a long-running mystery, with devices assessed as viable and capable of harm.
  • Still, some officials dispute that evidence sat idle and say Cole only became a focus in recent weeks, while the investigation remains active with additional search warrants being executed.
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Hardware purchases and location data: How the FBI says it made an arrest in the DC pipe bomb case, nearly five years later

The quiet calm of a weekday morning in a Woodbridge, Virginia, neighborhood was suddenly interrupted Thursday by a loud siren, two Humvee-style vehicles and a group of SWAT-like figures in camouflage, rifles trained on a house.

·Atlanta, United States
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KESQ broke the news in on Thursday, December 4, 2025.
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