Brian Cole: DC pipe bomb suspect bought materials from Walmart, Home Depot; details emerge
FBI affidavit show Brian Cole Jr. bought bomb-making materials from major retailers
According to a detailed affidavit filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), investigators traced several purchases by Brian Cole Jr. that match the components used in the pipe bombs placed outside the RNC and DNC headquarters on January 5, 2021.
Here's all he bought and needed for the bomb.
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What were the bombs made of?
Cole bought items such as galvanized steel pipes, end caps, nine-volt battery connectors and kitchen timers were reportedly bought at retail chains Home Depot and Walmart.
According to the FBI affidavit filed in federal court, the explosive devices were constructed using a combination of commercially available hardware-store components, many of which investigators say were purchased by Brian Cole in the months and years before January 6.
The pipe bodies
Investigators reported that both devices used 1” x 8” galvanized steel pipes manufactured by a specific pipe producer, the name of which is not revealed in the document.
Purchase records cited in the affidavit show Cole bought six galvanized pipes of identical size and product labeling pattern from multiple Home Depot stores in northern Virginia on June 1, June 8 and November 16, 2020.
End Caps
The bomber used a mix of black and galvanized end caps to seal the pipes. These are also from the same manufacturer.
The affidavit states Cole purchased 12 black end caps and 2 galvanized end caps on four separate trips to Home Depot between 2019 and 2020. In total, over 233,000 black end caps and 179,200 galvanized end caps of that type were distributed nationwide that year, the majority sold through Home Depot.
Battery connectors and wiring
The bombs contained a 9-volt battery connector with attached red and black wires, which investigators traced to a known distributor dubbed the “Nine Volt Distributor.”
The FBI says Cole purchased five battery connectors from a Micro Center store in northern Virginia around November 12 and December 28, 2019. Fewer than 8,000 of that distributor’s connectors were sold in the U.S. between 2017 and January 2021.
Kitchen timers and initiators
Both pipe bombs used a white kitchen-style mechanical timer as the triggering mechanism. According to the affidavit, Cole purchased two identical white kitchen timers from a Walmart in northern Virginia on June 3, 2020.
The uncommon combination of these items in the bomb led the investigators to examine retail purchase records, which ultimately linked back to Cole’s debit card activity captured in store transaction logs.
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The phone location was traced near the bomb area
Cell-Tower data reveals Cole's phone connected to towers in the vicinity of the RNC and DNC between 7:39 p.m. and 8:24 p.m. that evening. The report reveals that this is the time window in which the bombs were planted in the RNC and DNC.
The affidavit states that Cole’s car, a 2017 Nissan Sentra, was captured on camera leaving Interstate 395 South near the Capitol at about 7:10 p.m., less than a mile from the eventual bomb locations.
