Authorities in the United States have detained a suspect who they claim worked in Washington, DC, where pipe bombs were left overnight before the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.
In a joint press conference on Thursday, the FBI and the DOJ named the suspect Brian Cole Jr.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
“I am aware that some people have failed to catch the killer.” But not the FBI, or our partners, according to FBI deputy assistant director Darren Cox.
He explained that “3 million lines of data” were being sorted as part of the investigation.
“We do not forget, give up, or give in,” he said. Our team continued to churn through large amounts of data and tips that we used to identify this suspect, even though it had been nearly five years, Cox said.
Officials under Donald Trump’s presidency also praised the arrest as a victory for the current Republican administration and a sign of how incompetent his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, was.
FBI Director Kash Patel stated on Thursday that “we did not discover any new information.”
A new team of investigators and experts was mobilized following a review led by the deputy director and the AIC [agent in charge] of our Washington field office, who reexamined every piece of evidence and looked through all the data, something the previous administration refused and disregarded.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was present at the news conference, stated that Cole would face charges for using an explosive device without permission.
She continued, noting that further allegations could be made at a later time.
A thorough investigation.
The arrest could bring an almost five-year mystery to light that highlighted the growing threat of US political violence.
According to law enforcement, the bombs, which did not detonate, were still effective and “could have seriously injured or killed innocent bystanders.”
Officials demanded $500,000 in additional information about the suspect, stating that he “may still pose a threat to the public.”
Authorities initially released shaky photos of the bomber’s location. The suspect, who was long thought to be a man, was seen wearing a mask, gloves, and a gray hoodie when he was captured on surveillance cameras.
The perpetrator placed the pipe bombs near the offices of the Democratic and Republican Parties as they passed through the densely populated Capitol Hill neighborhood.
The FBI reported last year that its analysts, agents, and law enforcement partners “worked thousands of hours” conducting interviews, reviewing physical and digital evidence, and weighing public suggestions about who might have planted pipe bombs on Capitol Hill.
President Trump’s supporters stormed and ransacked the US Capitol the day after the bombs were left, preventing Biden’s election victory being declared a success.
Trump continues to make false accusations that there was widespread voter fraud in the year that he lost.
More than 1, 500 people are accused or convicted of criminal offences related to the riot, and Trump granted a presidential pardon in one of his first decrees following his return to the White House in early 2025.
Right-wing conspiracy theories that the Capitol riot was an “inside job” have been fueled by the mystery surrounding the pipe bombs. Unconfirmed, some online celebrities have claimed that the potential bomber was an “deep state” government agent who sought to discredit Trump’s supporters.
Even some Trump officials, like Dan Bongino, who have previously assisted in spreading such theories, have since spoken out fiercely against them.
Source: Aljazeera
Leave a Reply