On Thursday, CNN’s Jake Tapper announced the arrest of a “30-year old white man” in connection with the DC pipe bomb incident in 2021. Pipe bombs were found near the RNC and DNC headquarters just before the January 6, 2021 protests. Neither bomb exploded, but both were functional and dangerous.
Except, the suspect, Brian Cole Jr., isn’t white.
“Brian Cole Jr, a 30-year old white man from the DC suburbs was charged with transporting an explosive device in interstate commerce and with malicious destruction by means of explosion,” Tapper said as B roll of the arrest played on the screen.
The 2021 incident occurred on January 5th, the day before the Capitol Hill protests against suspected fraud in the 2020 election. Pipe bombs were found near the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic National Committee buildings in Washington, DC.
Cole is listed as being 5’6 and wears corrective eyeglasses. Residing in a single-family home with his mother, Cole works in a bail bondsman office in Northern Virginia.
“The FBI, along with U.S. Attorney Piro and all of our prosecutors, have worked tirelessly for months, sifting through evidence that had been sitting at the FBI with the Biden administration for four long years. Let me be clear: there was no new tip. There was no new witness. Just good, diligent police work and prosecutorial work,” Bondi said in a statement.
Almost immediately, Twitter/X erupted with memes lampooning Tapper’s fraudulent reporting on the matter. Several memes referenced the Netflix series “Adolescence,” a series about a serial killer that was cast with a white actor. However, in one of the cases it was based upon, the killer was black.
