The DC Pipe Bomber Confesses

It wasn't about Trump.

Yesterday, in its memorandum in support of pretrial detention, the Government released details of the confession of Brian Cole, Jr., the now-admitted DC pipe bomber.

Cole’s December 4, 2025 arrest coincided with a search of his home and his electronic devices. This included the search of Cole’s Samsung phone, which according to the Government had been “factory reset” - or “wiped” - 943 times between December 2020 and his arrest on December 4, 2025.

Inside Cole’s home, the FBI recovered:

• A Home Depot shopping bag containing three black iron end caps, one galvanized end cap, two 1-inch by 8-inch pipe nipples, and a Home Depot receipt dated November 16, 2020, for two 1-inch by 8-inch pipe nipples, three black iron end caps, and gloves located inside a closet accessible only through the defendant’s bathroom.

• A Lowes shopping bag containing two galvanized end caps located inside the same closet.

• 14-gauge red wire and wire strippers located inside the garage.

And inside Cole’s vehicle, the FBI found materials consistent with those of the pipe bombs, including a pipe end caps, pipe nipples, and a nine-volt battery.

After his arrest, Cole was taken to the FBI’s Washington Field Office, where he waived his Miranda rights and “was interviewed by investigators for multiple hours.”

Cole Confesses.

Throughout the first couple of hours of the interview, Cole maintained his innocence. He admitted to owning the Nike Air Max Speed Turf shoes, stating he “threw them away” because “they were old and they were coming apart.”

Finally, after being presented with a video still of himself from the night the bombs were planted and after being reminded of the penalty for lying to federal agents, Cole admitted he built and planted the bombs.

Cole walked the agents through the “construction, transportation, and planting of the pipe bombs.” The supplies, as we have seen from the criminal complaint, were purchased from home improvement stores like Lowes and Home Depot. Cole learned to make black powder from a video game and viewed various science-related YouTube videos to “assist him in creating the devices.”

The bombmaking materials were hid in a closet inside his home so they wouldn’t be found by his family. The devices were assembled in the hours before he loaded them into a shoebox in the back seat of his Nissan Sentra and dropped them off in Washington, D.C. on January 5, 2021. Aware of the potential to be identified, he wore a mask and hood and gloves to avoid fingerprints. He parked his car and proceeded to place the bombs at the RNC and then DNC. The kitchen timers on both devices were set to 60 minutes.

Unsurprisingly, the devices were not tested before they were planted. Cole said he was “pretty relieved” that the bombs didn’t detonate – apparently his goal wasn’t death, just destruction. It’s hard to get into his head, but that explanation actually makes sense. He didn’t place and set the bombs at a time to maximize casualties. And his expression of “relief” is corroborated by his decision to not continue with his personal bomb project. Though he did buy more materials after the fact, it looks like his interest in a terror campaign eventually waned.

When asked about his motive, Cole explained that “something just snapped” after “watching everything, just everything getting worse.” The Government hasn’t explained what “everything” entailed – perhaps they didn’t follow-up on that statement. Cole targeted both the RNC and the DNC because he wanted to do something “to the parties” because “they were in charge.” He further stated “I really don’t like either party at this point.”

The idea for pipe bombs came from “his interest in history” – specifically from the Troubles, a sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland that involved a number of deadly bombings both there and in England. Cole denied that the bombs were “directed toward Congress or related to the proceedings scheduled to take place on January 6.”

Before his confession, Cole told the FBI agents that he drove his Nissan Sentra to Washington D.C. on the evening of January 5, 2021 to attend a protest concerning the outcome of the 2020 election. He explained:

“I didn’t agree with what people were doing, like just telling half the country that they – that their – that they just need to ignore it. I didn’t think that was a good idea, so I went to the protest.”

Cole didn’t tell his family that he “was going to a protest in support of [then President] Trump.” He also stated that it was after the 2020 election “when it first seemed like something was wrong.”

It’s hard to take those pre-confession statements at face value. For starters, they were made in support of an obvious and premeditated lie created out of self-preservation: Cole’s false assertion that he was in DC for a Trump protest.

We also doubt Cole’s statement that only after the 2020 election did he feel that something seemed “wrong.” His purchases of bomb-making materials started as early as 2019, with the more essential materials – the pipes and timers – bought in the summer of 2020. As we previously summarized:

• He purchased the same galvanized pipes used in the bombs at two different Northern Virginia Home Depot locations in June and November 2020.

• Cole purchased 12 pipe end caps (consistent with those found outside the RNC and DNC) from four different Home Depot locations in 2019 and 2020.

• Cole bought 9V battery connectors from Micro Center in Northern Virginia in 2019. Cole purchased steel wool from Home Depot in 2020.

• He bought two white kitchen timers from a Wal-Mart in Northern Virginia in June 2020 that matched those found at the scenes.

Maybe there was a triggering event - whether political or in his personal life. Or perhaps his slow disgust at the US political system burned in his isolation, leading to his desire to mimic historical insurgencies and blow it all up. Or to at least send a signal to those he considered responsible.

From all the available information, it appears Cole kept this secret to himself for nearly five years. His extracurricular activities were hidden from his family. His phone was wiped. There is no sign he took credit for the bombs online or shared his plans with his network. It’s easy to think he was recruited or enticed or encouraged (and, this early in the case it is still entirely possible), but we must also consider the fact that his actions are consistent with what a radicalized loner might feel are necessary.

But of course, there’s still questions remaining on how and why the FBI bungled this investigation for years…