By Jana Winter, Sarah N Lynch and Costas Pitas, Reuters
This still from video from the FBI shows the person who placed two viable pipe bombs near the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, DC in January 2021. Photo: Federal Bureau of Investigation via CNN Newsource
The FBI has arrested a man suspected of planting pipe bombs in Washington the night before the January 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Thursday (US time).
The authorities released surveillance video, offered a US$500,000 (NZ$866,000) reward and received hundreds of tips in a years-long search for the suspect they believe was involved in the incident that took place nearly five years ago.
The footage, from January 5, 2021, showed a person putting a bomb near a bench outside the Democratic National Committee building. The suspect placed another bomb at the Republican headquarters. Both sites are near the Capitol.
The suspect is Brian Cole, Jr, Bondi said. Cole, 30, of Woodbridge, Virginia, lives with his parents and works for a bail bond company, one of them said, according to a source briefed on the matter.
Bombs were deactivated
The bombs were discovered on the same day supporters of Trump stormed Congress in an attempt to stop lawmakers from certifying Democrat Joe Biden's 2020 presidential election victory.
Police deactivated the bombs and neither exploded.
In the January 6, 2021, melee at the Capitol, rioters surged past police barricades, assaulting about 140 officers and causing more than US$2.8 million in damage.
Trump pardoned nearly everyone criminally charged for participating in the riot, some 1500 people, when he returned to office in January.
-Reuters
