In brief
Brian Cole Jr., a 30-year-old from Virginia, appeared in court charged with planting pipe bombs outside both the Republican and Democratic Party headquarters on January 5, 2021. The FBI connected Cole to the crime via credit card analysis for bomb components and his own admissions during investigations. He remains in custody ahead of a detention hearing scheduled for December 15.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Virginia man on Friday made his first court appearance on charges that he planted a pair of pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national parties in Washington on the eve of a mob’s attack on U.S. Capitol.U.S. Magistrate Moxila Upadhyaya ordered Brian Cole Jr. to remain in jail a day after his arrest on explosives charges. He is due back in court Dec. 15 for a detention hearing. He did not enter a plea.An FBI affidavit says investigators identified Cole as a suspect through analysis of credit card charges related to the purchase of pipe bomb components, cellphone towers and a license plate reader.Cole, 30, of Woodbridge, Virginia, confessed to the Jan. 5, 2021, act in interviews with investigators, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Cole also indicated that he believed the 2020 election was stolen and expressed views supportive of President Donald Trump, said the people, who were not authorized to discuss by name an ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
