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After the FBI arrested Brian J. Cole Jr. in Woodbridge, Virginia, in relation to the placing of two pipe bombs in D.C. on the eve of the U.S. Capitol attack in 2021, neighbors in his quiet community expressed surprise at his involvement.
Cole was arrested late Thursday morning at his family’s home on Manor House Court off Minnieville Road and charged with transporting an explosive device across state lines and attempted malicious destruction by means of fire and explosive materials, the Justice Department said in a news release.
Cole is accused of placing two pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic National Committees in D.C. on Jan. 5, 2021.
On Thursday, Prince William County police blocked off the cul-de-sac where Cole lives, as dozens of FBI agents investigated his home, The Associated Press reported.
Neighbors told WTOP they were shocked to see the large law enforcement presence and were concerned about Cole’s arrest. They described the area as quiet and peaceful.
“It’s a real tight community. We all know each other, for the most part,” Brian Lopez, who has lived there for 13 years, said. “It’s a friendly neighborhood, calm, relaxed. You would never think this would be coming out of our neighborhood.”
He and his wife, Yesenia, have three children and just went trick-or-treating on Cole’s street on Halloween. They said they are familiar with Cole and would see him walking his dog almost every day.
“And I would sometimes wave, and he would wave back,” Yesenia said. “It makes you kind of scared, like you don’t really know your neighbor.”
According to the affidavit and court records, Cole, who is 5 feet 6 inches tall and wears glasses, lived in the five-bedroom, three-bath house, InsideNoVa reported. “He graduated from Hylton High School in 2013 and is listed in the affidavit as working as a bail bondsman in Northern Virginia,” the website stated.
Calls to relatives of Cole listed in public records were not immediately returned Thursday, The Associated Press reported. “Hours after Cole was arrested, unmarked law enforcement vehicles still lined the cul-de-sac where Cole’s home is while FBI agents directed onlookers away. Authorities were seen entering the house and examining the trunk of a car nearby,” the report said.
The Associated Press and InsideNoVa contributed to this report.