The red-Crocs-loving suspect accused of planting homemade bombs outside the Democratic and Republican National Committee offices in DC ahead of the Jan. 6 Capital Riot is set to appear in federal court Friday afternoon.
Brian Cole Jr., 30, will be hauled into a DC federal courtroom for the first time since his arrest Thursday, when he was busted for allegedly transporting an explosive device across state lines with the intent to kill, injure and damage property and attempted malicious destruction by means of explosive materials.
US Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya is slated to oversee the hearing. She is the same judge that handled the Jan. 6, 2021, rioter cases, which President Trump has since issued pardons over.
Cole of Woodbury, Va., was arrested nearly five years after he allegedly left bombs he began making in 2019 outside the DNC and RNC headquarters in DC’s Capital Hill neighborhood on the eve of the electoral votes being certified in the 2020 election.
Video footage showed Cole allegedly walking around DC the night the devices were left behind.
The explosive devices were discovered the next day, Jan. 6, 2021 amidst the chaos of droves of Trump supporters descending on the Capital as Congress was finalizing the vote.
Cole allegedly began gathering the items he needed to build the bombs beginning in 2019 from stores around northern Virginia, including eight Home Depot locations, Micro Center, Lowes and Walmart.
They were made out of steel pipes, nine-volt batteries and other kitchen items, prosecutors claim.
A $500,000 reward was offered for any information that led to Cole’s arrest under the administration of former President Joe Biden and the monetary reward was renewed again by the Trump administration in October.
FBI Director Kash Patel blasted the FBI under the Biden administration for allegedly sitting on evidence that could have led to Cole’s arrest sooner.
