{"id":2592277,"date":"2026-04-18T10:04:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T14:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-doj-hits-dc-pipe-bomb-suspect-with-terror-charges\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T10:08:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T14:08:22","slug":"trump-doj-hits-dc-pipe-bomb-suspect-with-terror-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-doj-hits-dc-pipe-bomb-suspect-with-terror-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump DOJ Hits DC Pipe Bomb Suspect With Terror Charges"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-doj-hits-dc-pipe-bomb-suspect-with-terror-charges%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2592277&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Trump governance has strengthened its case against Brian Cole Jr., a Virginia resident accused of planting two pipe bombs near washington, D.C., on January 5, 2021. A new <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >grand jury indictment adds armed terrorism<\/a> and weapons of mass destruction charges to his existing counts of transporting explosives and attempting to use them, perhaps exposing him to life in prison if convicted on the WMD charge alone. Prosecutors say the devices did not detonate, but Cole told investigators that \u201csomething snapped\u201d and that he aimed to attack both political parties. The indictment contends he used weapons of mass destruction against interstate and foreign commerce and committed terrorism \u201cwith the intent to intimidate and coerce\u201d civilian populations. His defense argues the government has mischaracterized the device as a WMD, noting experts said it would not have detonated and questioning why the label is being used now. Authorities say Cole was identified through case details carried over from the Biden-Harris administration, and he remains jailed pending trial as his defense seeks dismissal of the charges, including arguments tied to presidential pardons for some Jan. 6 protesters.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration ramped up its case on Tuesday against the man accused of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-judiciary-republicans-fbi-waited-over-a-year-to-fully-investigate-jan-6-pipe-bombs\/\" title=\"House Judiciary Republicans: FBI Waited Over a Year to Fully Investigate Jan. 6 ...\">planting pipe bombs<\/a> near the Democratic and Republican headquarters in Washington on Jan. 5, 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Virginia resident Brian Cole, Jr. faces new armed terrorism and weapons of mass destruction charges along with his initial counts of transporting explosives and malicious attempt to use them, a new grand jury indictment&nbsp;shows. Cole could now face up to life in prison if convicted on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/uscode\/text\/18\/2332a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">weapons charge<\/a> alone.<\/p>\n<p>The FBI arrested Cole in December for allegedly planting the explosives, which did not detonate. Cole told federal agents in a subsequent interview that &ldquo;something just snapped&rdquo; in his mind and made him want to attack both political parties, according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n<div>&ldquo;For no logical reason at all, the government has gone from identifying the alleged device as an explosive to now referring to that same device as a &lsquo;weapon of mass destruction,&rsquo; knowing experts have said this device would not have detonated,&rdquo; Mario Williams, an attorney for Cole, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. &ldquo;It raises serious concerns about how this case is being presented and why that shift is being made now.&rdquo;<\/div>\n<p>Tuesday&rsquo;s new indictment accuses Cole of using weapons of mass destruction against interstate and foreign commerce and committing terrorism &ldquo;with the intent to intimidate and coerce&rdquo; civilian populations.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadAnyclip() { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst container=document.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!container) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=\"https:\/\/player.anyclip.com\/anyclip-widget\/lre-widget\/prod\/v1\/src\/lre.js\"; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"pubname\", \"westernjournalcom\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"widgetname\", \"001w000001jULVcAAO_M12924\");  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ append inside the container so player shows in correct spot \t\t\t\t\t\tcontainer.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadAnyclip(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #anyclipvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#anyclipvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Phone records, bank data and vehicle information led federal law enforcement to conclude Cole obtained bomb-making parts and planted the two devices in D.C., <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/she-falsely-claimed-a-verizon-store-employee-groped-her-a-court-just-upheld-her-lengthy-sentence\/\" title=\"She Falsely Claimed A Verizon Store Employee Groped Her. A Court Just Upheld Her Lengthy Sentence.\">court documents show<\/a>. He allegedly continued buying such materials after laying the explosives. The Trump administration boasted that it identified Cole by using case information left over from the Biden-Harris administration with more efficiency, ending a nearly five-year manhunt.<\/p>\n<p>President Donald Trump issued a blanket pardon for most pro-Trump protesters arrested at the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, prompted by the 2020 election. Cole&rsquo;s defense team asked the court to dismiss his charges in March, arguing the pardon for election protesters also applies to his alleged conduct. Cole is being <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/72099987\/united-states-v-cole\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">held in jail<\/a> until trial.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The government now wants Brian Cole Jr. (a Black man) to go down in history as the only alleged, accused January 6-related individual to serve not only a jail sentence, but to serve the rest of his life in prison,&rdquo; Williams told the DCNF.<\/p>\n<div class=\"disclaimer\">\n<p>All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/union-membership-plummets-to-record-low\/\" title=\"Union Membership Plummets to Record Low\">legitimate news publisher<\/a> that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter&rsquo;s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8211; The Trump administration intensified its prosecution of Brian Cole Jr., a Virginia man accused of placing pipe bombs near Washington\u2019s Democratic and Republican party headquarters on January 5, 2021. A new grand jury indictment adds armed-terrorism and weapons-of-mass-destruction charges to his existing counts of transporting explosives and attempting to use them, meaning he could face life in prison if convicted on the WMD charge alone.<br \/>\n&#8211; Cole was arrested by the FBI in December for allegedly planting the explosives, which did not detonate. Prosecutors say he later told federal agents that \u201csomething snapped\u201d in his mind and that he wanted to attack both political parties.<br \/>\n&#8211; Cole\u2019s attorney, Mario Williams, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the government has shifted its characterization of the device from an explosive to a \u201cweapon of mass destruction,\u201d despite experts\u2019 view that the device wouldn\u2019t have detonated, and he questioned why the rhetoric change is occurring now.<br \/>\n&#8211; The indictment alleges Cole used weapons of mass destruction against interstate and foreign commerce and carried out terrorism with the intent to intimidate and coerce civilian populations.<br \/>\n&#8211; Prosecutors say Cole obtained bomb-making parts and planted the devices in D.C., and that he continued buying related materials after the incident.<br \/>\n&#8211; The administration claimed it identified Cole more efficiently by using information carried over from the Biden-Harris administration, ending a long period of pursuit.<br \/>\n&#8211; Separately, President Trump issued a blanket pardon for most pro-Trump protesters arrested in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, amid controversy over the 2020 election.<br \/>\n&#8211; Cole\u2019s defense asked the court to dismiss the charges, arguing the presidential pardons for election protesters should apply to his alleged conduct; he remains jailed awaiting trial.<br \/>\n&#8211; A defense attorney remarked that the government appears poised to label Cole as the only January 6-related individual to receive a life sentence<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2592278,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_7679.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[50501,7076,37075,3634],"class_list":["post-2592277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-dc-2","tag-doj","tag-pipe-bomb","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_7679.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2592277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2592277"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2592277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2592281,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2592277\/revisions\/2592281"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2592278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2592277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2592277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2592277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}