On Dec. 4, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that 30-year-old Brian J. Cole Jr., had been arrested and charged in connection with two pipe bombs that were placed near the Democratic and Republican National Committee offices in Washington, D.C., the day before the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
According to the FBI, someone placed the pipe bombs — which did not detonate — near the offices between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. Jan. 5, 2021. The agency offered a $500,000 reward for information that would help identify the person responsible.
Prior to the arrest, in November 2025, social media posts alleged that a former U.S. Capitol Police officer was suspected of placing the pipe bombs. Snopes removed her name from its coverage on Dec. 5 because she is not suspected of any wrongdoing.
Similar claims about her potential involvement circulated on X. Multiple Snopes readers also emailed us and searched our website to verify the claim's authenticity.
However, the claim about the ex-officer's involvement was unfounded. It stemmed from a Nov. 8 report (archived) published by conservative media outlet Blaze News, which alleged that a forensic analysis of her gait was a "94-98% match to the unique stride" of the pipe bomb suspect.
As of Dec. 4, Blaze News had removed the story from its website, adding an update that said "we consider the values of fairness and accuracy to require retraction of this article."
At the time of initial publication, Snopes could not verify Blaze News' report because it relied on unnamed intelligence sources and did not publicly share the forensic study it referenced. Other major news outlets had not independently corroborated the story.
We contacted Blaze News to ask whether its sources were affiliated with the federal government or other agencies, and to request access to the forensic analysis for review. We never received a response.
As of Dec. 5, 2025, the Department of Justice, FBI and other law enforcement agencies had not identified the ex-Capitol Police officer named in Blaze's report as a suspect in the pipe bomb incident.
Below, we explain what fueled the baseless rumor about her involvement and how the DOJ and FBI responded.
DOJ attorney and FBI responses
The DOJ had not responded to our request for comment by the time of publication. However, a DOJ attorney appeared to refute a separate but related claim that he had identified the ex-officer as the "J6 pipe bomber."
An image shared on Facebook (archived) appeared to a show a screenshot of a now-deleted X post that read:
U.S. Pardon Attorney and Director of the DOJ Weaponization Working Group Administration has determined the identity of the J6 Pipe Bomber.
[The woman's name] is a former Capitol Police Officer and current intelligence operative. Jan 6th was an FBI/CIA led coup.
Ed Martin, a DOJ attorney who serves in the roles mentioned in the post, appeared to respond to the claim, calling it "false" and clarifying that neither he nor the DOJ had "made this determination."
We could not independently verify the original post or its content, as it had been deleted and was not archived elsewhere as of this writing.
The FBI did not comment on the accuracy of the Blaze News report or on whether the ex-officer was under investigation. Before the arrest was made, the agency told Snopes in an email statement that the pipe bomb investigation "remains a high priority" and confirmed that the $500,000 reward was still available.
The FBI's full statement is as follows:
The investigation into who placed pipe bombs on Capitol Hill on Jan. 5, 2021, remains a high priority for the FBI and our law enforcement partners. A $500,000 reward remains in effect for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the individual who placed the pipe bombs. The tips we have received so far from the American people, including open source leads, have helped us advance the investigation with expediency and professionalism, and we ask the public to continue to assist us by taking a fresh look at our Seeking Information webpage, which includes images and updated video of the suspect, the suspect's backpack, the suspect's shoes, the explosive devices, and a map of the route the suspect walked the night the pipe bombs were placed. We urge anyone who may have previously hesitated to come forward or who may not have realized they had important information to contact us and share anything relevant. Anyone with information should call 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit tips online to tips.fbi.gov.
What the Blaze News report alleged
The Blaze News report claimed the ex-officer was a "forensic match" for the then-unidentified pipe bomb suspect from Jan. 5, 2021.
The news outlet cited a "a software algorithm that analyzed walking parameters," saying it rated the ex-officer as a 94% match to the suspect. An unnamed analyst who reportedly ran the analysis for Blaze News suggested the match could be closer to 98%, according to the report.
Two other unnamed sources "familiar with gait analysis who viewed the video comparison and the software analysis" reportedly told Blaze News they agreed that the video samples matched the suspect's gait.
Blaze News said the analysis compared samples of the ex-officer's gait taken from Jan. 6 Capitol Police CCTV footage to video of the pipe bomb suspect from a source outside of the FBI. A "video sleuth" reportedly told the outlet that FBI-released footage had been downsampled. Blaze News said the video it used was "clearer with much smoother motion."
Snopes could not review the analysis or videos, as they were not publicly available.
The report also claimed the ex-officer worked for the Capitol Police for 4 1/2 years before leaving in mid-2021 for a security detail at the Central Intelligence Agency, citing unnamed sources. A CIA spokeswoman reportedly told Blaze News that she worked in campus security.
Capitol Police and the CIA had not responded to Snopes' requests for comment by the time of publication.
Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund was quoted in the report as saying he was unaware of any officer being involved in the incident.
Blaze retracts report
On Dec. 4, 2025, Blaze News retracted the report, removing the story from its website and publishing an update explaining the decision (archived). The update noted that the outlet's sources "continue to stand by the information they provided" and that it believed the information to be accurate at the time of publication.
The full update is as follows:
Dec. 4, 2025: Blaze News considers fairness and accuracy to be the defining goals of any news organization. Our report posted on Nov. 8, 2025, about the Jan. 6 pipe bombs was based on sourcing from individuals in a position to know this type of sensitive law enforcement information who have a demonstrated record of reliability and accuracy. Of note, the sources continue to stand by the information they provided Blaze News. At all times, the reporting adhered to professional journalistic standards and was published with a good-faith belief in its truth. Even so, in light of Thursday's developments and the FBI's arrest of another individual, Virginia resident Brian Cole Jr., in connection with the Capitol pipe-bomb incident, we consider the values of fairness and accuracy to require retraction of this article.
After publication, Steve Bunnell, who the Washington Post identified as an attorney for the Capitol Police officer, told the Post his client "categorically denies" that she planted the pipe bombs.
The featured image on this article was changed on Dec. 4, 2025.
Blaze reporter involved in Jan. 6 controversy
A Blaze News writer who contributed to the outlet's reporting was involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, according to The Associated Press (archived).
Steve Baker pleaded guilty in November 2024 to participating in the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the AP reported. He was arrested and charged that March with four misdemeanor counts, including trespassing and disorderly conduct charges.
At the time, Baker reportedly said that he pleaded guilty "to avoid the shaming exercise of a trial" and maintained that he didn't do anything wrong on Jan. 6.
U.S. President Donald Trump later pardoned everyone convicted in connection with the Capitol attack.
Baker began writing for Blaze News after the Jan. 6 riot. He was working as a freelance journalist during the riot and later sold videos of the event to The New York Times and HBO, according to the AP.