Brian Cole Jr is a 30 year old Woodbridge, Virginia bail bonds office employee with no prior criminal record who now faces major federal explosives charges after investigators tied him through purchases, phone and vehicle data, and alleged admissions to the unsolved 2021 pipe bombs placed near the DNC and RNC.

A University of Delaware student with a machinegun conversion device, tactical gear, and a martyrdom-oriented notebook detailing a campus police target was arrested before his plans could escalate into violence.