(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., wrote an open letter to FBI Director Kashyap Patel on Wednesday, questioning him about newly publicized surveillance footage that some argue provides an alibi for Brian Cole Jr.—the man accused of planting pipe bombs outside of the RNC and DNC headquarters the night before the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill protest.
The footage, released Sunday by journalist Steve Baker, shows a man walking near the US Capitol around 8 p.m. on Jan. 5—the exact time another individual in a gray hoodie is seen on footage placing the pipe bombs. Baker and others argue that the man walking near the US Capitol is Cole, which would mean that Cole can’t be the pipe bomber.
The video referenced in my letter: https://t.co/e8K6W4hxlr
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) October 21, 2026
In his letter, Massie asked Patel to have the FBI investigate the matter.
“There is no requirement that the FBI wait for the outcome of Brian Cole Jr.’s trial before investigating the new video released by Steve Baker,” he said. “In fact … the FBI must not wait to evaluate this new evidence.”
Massie further asked Patel to investigate a number of current or former law enforcement officials for their possible involvement in or knowledge of the pipe bomb case. Those officials include former ATF agent Ashan Benedict, who was the on-scene commander for the ATF on Jan. 6, 2021; Ronald Ridgley and Don Hankins, the two plainclothes Capitol Police officers who discovered the device near the DNC; Steven D’Antuono, who was in charge of the FBI’s DC field office on Jan. 6; and the Secret Service agents who purportedly destroyed cell phone evidence from Jan. 6.
The FBI has yet to publicly respond to Massie’s letter.
Meanwhile, Cole’s lawyers are seeking to suppress their client’s confession to being the man who planted the pipe bombs. According to Cole’s lawyers, video of last December’s interrogation of Cole shows the FBI engaging in the “methodical dismantling of a man whose autism spectrum disorder.” Cole’s lawyers attached the opinion of Dr. Richard A. Leo—a psychologist who has consulted on 2,500 disputed-confession cases—who agreed with them that “the interrogation was psychologically coercive.”
The defense attorneys also attached the transcript of Cole’s December 4 interview. The transcript shows that the Cole confessed when agents showed him a picture of the person seen on surveillance footage the night of Jan. 5, 2021. Cole’s confession took place about three hours into the interview, after interrogators told him that his pervious denials were illegal, and after they threatened to “drag” his family into their office for similar interviews.
“So, this individual is you?” the FBI interrogator asked Cole, to which he responded, “Yes.”
Agents then left the room for a while before returning to ask Cole whether he wanted to talk more. Cole said he wanted to talk more, providing more details about his alleged actions.
“I don’t know how many times I wanted to turn myself in,” Cole said towards the end of the interview.
“You wanted to turn yourself in?” an agent asked him.
“So, so many times … I’d just be scared,” Cole said.
The Justice Department has yet to respond to Cole’s motion. Cole’s lawyers have asked the judge for a hearing on the matter before any determination.
Along with seeking to suppress his confession, Cole’s lawyers are also seeking FBI evidence related to its investigation of former Capitol Police officer and current CIA security guard Shauni Kerkhoff. Cole’s lawyers want to subpoena Kerkhoff’s records on the grounds that she might be the true culprit—a theory based on reporting by Baker that Kerkhoff’s gait matches the pipe bomb suspect. Baker hasn’t released any evidence, and Kerkhoff has sued him over his reporting.
Information the lawyers seek includes the original video of Kerkhoff’s dog on the night of Jan. 5, 2021, which was reportedly taken while the pipe bomber was in DC—giving her an alibi; another for communications between her and her boyfriend, Capitol Police officer Daniel Dickert; and a third for records related to the gait analysis conducted as part of the FBI’s investigation.
However, the DOJ has said Cole’s defense team shouldn’t be allowed to issue those subpoenas, because they have yet to produce any evidence that Kerkhoff is actually the pipe bomber.
“The FBI investigated this claim, as it did many others, and found it to be baseless,” the DOJ said, accusing Cole’s lawyers of going on a “fishing expedition.”
It’s unclear when a judge will rule on this matter.
Pipe Bomb Case History
As Headline USA revealed in March 2024, the FBI had a suspect identified by Jan. 10, 2021 in the pipe bomb case, but never made any arrests.
FBI records released in September revealed that agents didn’t interview the woman who discovered a pipe bomb near the RNC around 12:40 p.m. on Jan. 6 until days later. That woman, former counterterrorism analyst and then-Commerce Department worker Karlin Younger, said she found the bomb while doing laundry.
Meanwhile, former Vice President Kamala Harris continues to be tight-lipped on the subject, despite the fact that her motorcade drove past the DNC pipe bomb on Jan. 6. Harris left the Capitol at 11:21 a.m. arrived to the DNC at 11:25 a.m., but the nearby pipe bomb wasn’t discovered until 1:07 p.m. by a plainclothes Capitol Police officer.
The lack of answers have driven many to suspect that it may have been a false-flag attempt overseen by the feds themselves to divert law enforcement from the Capitol right as the Jan. 6 protest was turning violent.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
