Strange habits of Crocs-loving DC pipe bomb suspect who was rarely seen without his pet Chihuahua
A suspected anarchist arrested for allegedly planting pipe bombs near Capitol Hill was a recluse who was only ever seen walking his pet Chihuahua in Crocs, his neighbors said.
Brian Cole, 30, was identified by the FBI on Thursday as the suspect in the planned attacks on DC on the eve of the January 6, 2021 riots.
Cole, who lives in Woodbridge, Virginia, was described as recluse by his neighbors who spoke with CNN.
According to those who spoke anonymously with the outlet, he was only ever seen walking his pet Chihuahua while wearing headphones.
They noted that he would take the dog out in all types of weather while wearing shorts and a pair red Crocs.
One longtime neighbor also told The New York Post: 'We would always just comment, "Like, how is he in shorts?"
'It’s 20 degrees out in his red Crocs, walking his dog all winter long. We all knew him as the guy that walked the Chihuahua.'
An arrest affidavit released soon after his arrest said that he lived at home with his mother and worked as a bail bondsman.
The calm of the leafy suburb was disturbed on Thursday when two Humvees loaded with SWAT teams in camouflage and carrying rifles raided his home, nabbing Cole.
Cole, pictured here, was identified by the FBI on Thursday as the suspect in the planned attacks on DC
Police block the street near the house where the FBI arrested Cole, in Woodbridge
Cole was charged with laying explosives outside the Democratic and Republican National Committee headquarters, which did not detonate.
The arrest marks the first major breakthrough in the five-year investigation that had baffled the agency and sparked a wave of conspiracy theories.
His arrest came after the FBI offered a $500,000 reward for leads to identify the suspect.
Authorities shared previously unreleased footage of the perp stalking the streets of Washington DC the night before the infamous riots.
Cole's arrest was reportedly not the result of a new breakthrough in the investigation, but came after the FBI reviewed existing evidence it had collected in 2021 and 2022.
Sources said that Cole's arrest may cause embarrassment for the Bureau because they'd had all the information necessary to arrest him for close to five years.
Video showed the hooded suspect setting down a backpack on South Capitol Street, before putting on glasses and scanning their surroundings for witnesses and leaving.
The suspect then walked to the nearby DNC headquarters, where a bomb was placed at 7:54pm.
Authorities shared previously unreleased footage of the perp stalking the streets of Washington DC the night before the infamous riots in the weeks before Cole's arrest
The bombs were made of threaded galvanized pipes, kitchen timers and homemade black powder. One of the planted devices is pictured above
Surveillance then showed the suspect walking to the RNC headquarters and placing a bomb at 8:16pm.
The suspect wore a face mask, glasses, a grey hooded sweatshirt, gloves, and black and light grey Nike Air Max Speed Turf shoes with a yellow logo.
The explosive devices planted outside the two buildings in the Capitol Hill neighborhood were located the next day.
Hours later hordes of Donald Trump supporters descended on Washington DC to protest the 2020 election results.
US Capitol Police and agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were called to the RNC's office at 12.45pm.
About 30 minutes later, as the agents and bomb technicians were still investigating at the RNC, another call came in for a similar explosive device found at the DNC.
The bombs were rendered safe, and no one was hurt.
Officials said the homemade bombs were constructed out of threaded galvanized pipes, kitchen timers and homemade black powder.
Cole will make an initial appearance inside a DC federal court later today as he is formally arraigned on charges of planting the bombs.
