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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   23401 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of December 1, 2025

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As someone interested in true crime, this is fascinating:

FBI arrests man in Jan. 6 DC pipe bomber investigation, sources say

Jan 6th pipe bomber arrested

This concludes a five year investigation.

My biggest question, and the question on others' mind is, how was he caught when there is apparently so little evidence? A grainy video, a sneaker brand, and that was it pretty much it. The FBI has even outdone the 4chan geolocators, which describes a community of online sleuths who “dox” targets by analyzing geographic details such as weather patterns, cloud formations, and other environmental cues in photos, who were unable to identify him (of course, the FBI has much more resources, evidence and extralegal powers).

Here is the FBI agent affidavit in support of probable cause for his arrest. The evidence breaks down like:

1. Based on Cole's credit card transaction history he purchased all the parts that were themselves part of the bombs as well as other safety tools one might use to make a bomb across 2019/2020. Sample paragraph (not gonna quote all of them):

Both pipe bombs were manufactured using a 1” x 8” galvanized pipe with markings consistent with a particular manufacturer’s (the “Pipe Manufacturer”) product labeling. COLE purchased a total of six galvanized pipes of this size and shape on or about June 1, June 8, and November 16, 2020. The purchases were made at two different Home Depot location in northern Virginia. According to the Pipe Manufacturer, approximately 26,000 of these items from Pipe Manufacturer were sold in 2020, and over 22,000 of these items were sold to Home Depot.

(continue for the end caps, wiring, steel wool, kitchen timers, etc.)

2. Analysis of cellphone data shows that Cole's phone was connected to towers in the vicinity of where the bombs were placed at the same time surveillance footage shows the bomb planter in the area. Sample paragraph (5 or so of these, covering from 7:39 to 8:24):

At approximately 7:39:27 p.m., the COLE CELLPHONE interacted with a particular sector of Provider tower 59323, which faces southeast (approximately 120˚) from its location at 103 G Street, Southwest in Washington, D.C. (“Sector A”). Also at 7:39:27 p.m., the COLE CELLPHONE interacted with a particular sector of Provider tower 126187, which faces east (approximately 90˚) from its location at 200 Independence Avenue, Southwest in Washington, D.C. (“Sector B”). Video surveillance footage shows that at approximately 7:39:32 p.m., the individual who placed the pipe bombs walked westbound on D Street, Southeast and then turned southbound on South Capitol Street, Southeast. These locations are consistent with the coverage areas of Sector A and B.

3. A license plate reader caught Cole's vehicle in the area shortly before the first security camera footage captures the bomb planter. Cole's cell phone also starts communicating with towers in the area shortly after.

COLE is the registered owner of a 2017 Nissan Sentra with a Virginia license plate. On January 5, 2021, at approximately 7:10 p.m., COLE’s Nissan Sentra was observed driving past a License Plate Reader at the South Capitol Street exit from Interstate 395 South, which is less than one-half mile from the location where the individual who placed the devices was first observed on foot near North Carolina and New Jersey Avenues, Southeast at 7:34 p.m. Approximately 5 minutes later, at 7:39:27 p.m., the COLE CELLPHONE began to interact with Provider towers in the area.

You'd have to be stupid to commit a serious federal crime and expect to get away. There feds have so many resources and so determined, and also it does not help that the vast majority of criminals are not masterminds and make in hindsight stupid mistakes.

You'd have to be stupid to commit a serious federal crime and expect to get away.

Well I think that's true today with surveillance cameras; cell phone records; DNA; and so on. But in the past, a serious criminal had a better chance. Look at the Unabomber -- the only reason he was caught is that his brother read the Unambomber manifesto and recognized the style.

Over the last 20 years, it's become basically impossible to commit a serious crime on US soil and avoid getting caught* (if the government is willing to devote the resources to catching you) but I think it is taking time for awareness of this fact to seep into public knowledge.

*I would make an exception for situations where the criminal has the support of a serious state actor.

I think it is taking time for awareness of this fact to seep into public knowledge.

Well, that's largely because of this part

if the government is willing to devote the resources to catching you

It's just pure anarcho tyranny. We aren't as far gone as the UK where they are releasing foreign rape gangs to make room for people who got a little too mouthy criticizing foreign rape gangs. But it's inching there. Only enemies of the deep state get the full weight of the law and it's infinite spying capabilities thrown at them. Everyone else basically has to commit the crime in such a lazy manner in front of hundreds of witnesses who can identify them, and then a Soros DA might get pressured into lazily pressing charges and then cutting a probation only plea deal once it's out of the news.

Now, the obvious flaw in that narrative is this very arrest. Are the tools of the deep state finally getting yanked out of their hands by the current administration? Maybe. There is a story where deep state FBI agents were purposely fucking up the investigation, and Kash put a fresh team of loyalist on it who immediately solved the case with no new evidence. If that is happening, it's a process, not an event however. Anarcho Tyranny is not "solved" on the basis of a single prosecution, just like Cancel Culture wasn't cancelled on the basis of Jimmy Kimmel getting his show back. It's who/whom trench warfare and bureaucratic defense in depth until the point where the only solution is to drop the pretenses and start killing each other in the war we are obviously already in.

It's just pure anarcho tyranny.

I agree that anarcho tyranny is a problem but I wouldn't go that far. A garden variety serial killer is going to get busted. A Mangione is going to get busted despite being a darling of the Left.

I mean, agreed you have to stupid or mentally ill to do something like this since there is no upside, but maybe use cash and turn off your cell phone, bro? License plate alone wouldn’t be enough to build a case.

Even the license plate is easy to obscure. If you're carrying a bike on a rear rack a plate reader won't work. Some hitch racks fold up when not in use and will block the plate on some sedans. I rode the turnpike for free for years with a rack like this until I got pulled over for it and decided I didn't want to risk the ticket, but that only happens if a cop is directly behind you and can't read the plate, and is bored enough to make an issue out of it. There was a news article a while back about how much revenue the turnpike was losing from people carrying bikes, saying that they were pulling some people over for foiling the readers, but this isn't something a cop is realistically going to pull you over for in and of itself (the cop who pulled me over said that they wouldn't do it if someone were carrying a bike), only if you were getting free rides as a consequence. I think that they realistically understand that this is a lost cause, though.

Who buys bomb equipment with credit cards?

Who brings their cell phone with them to commit crimes?

To be honest, lots of criminals. A lot of crimes are solved by police departments with a lot less resources than the FBI using some pretty hard to pin down evidence. Cell tower + LPR hits can often get you down to only a very small pool of individuals that need to be investigated further. One prosecutor friend of mine got a conviction for an armed robbery based on basically cell towers, LPRS, and a photo of underwear.

Eh, IDK -- yes it's easy to understand some gang-banger bringing his phone on a driveby under the assumption that he'll never be caught and anyways needs the phone in case somebody calls about some crack -- or just general dumb-criminalness.

But when you get to the point of planting bombs in the vicinity of the seat of government of the US of fuckin A in the year of our Lord 2025 -- this is pretty cloak & dagger stuff! The guy was obviously somewhat concerned about being tracked given the way that he structured his pipe-bomb purchases -- "don't take your phone on your anarchist bombing mission" seems like an implausibly low bar not to clear?

people who commit crimes and get caught make bad decisions. this is the simple explanation for everything. of course in this particular situation the timing is very weird because you have the grifter news site making bombshell accusations about capitol police being involved in the pipe bombing. but there is even a explanation for the timing which is grifter news site is making FBI look bad even if the grifter story is false so FBI now allocates resources on this particular case instead of whatever 'higher' priority the FBI would otherwise use their resources.

also, if this is an FBI coverup this confirms the republican party is the washington generals.

Criminals. I mean, if I were building and planting a bomb I'd make use of salvaged stuff as much as possible, anything I couldn't would be bought with cash (thought that didn't help here), the cell phone would stay at home, I'd try to note the location of CCTV cameras and such and at least try to make me and my car get lost in the noise if I couldn't avoid them, etc. I also would NOT do Google, Bing, or even DDG searches of bomb-making and stuff from devices that could be associated with me (including other people's phones at my house). But

a) I'm also not going to build or plant a bomb.

and

b) Blowing shit up is fun, but this would be a lot of work and who goes into crime to do a lot of work?

c) If you're going to bomb the Capitol as part of an attempt to overthrow the government, the least you expect afterward is the boogaloo, the most you expect is that your people get into power. You don't plan to evade the FBI because after the bombing the FBI either won't exist or won't have power over you.

If it's not confirmed I'm very confident DC is under wide-area persistent surveillance. You have to spend a lot of time figuring out CCTV locations to defeat it.

Who brings their cell phone with them to commit crimes?

From experience as a defense attorney, just about everyone. Obviously, selection bias since there might be hordes of people leaving their cell phones at home, committing crimes, and not getting arrested, and I would never see them.

Yeah and I'm glad for it, still, I'd think someone conscientious enough to make a delayed fuse bomb and have all 10 fingers would be conscious enough to not bring their cell phone while planting said bombs.

Well if that isn't proof we're living in a panopticon, nothing is. They were able to trace his month-old purchases of 9V battery connectors that he made with cash:

COLE purchased five of the Nine Volt Distributor’s nine-volt battery connectors from Micro Center in northern Virginia on or about November 12 and December 28, 2019, including cash purchases made during the December transaction.

Microcenter also has a rewards program and they ask your name and address at the register.

One would assume that he wouldn't give them at information if he was purchasing bomb components with cash... but maybe?

December 28, 2019, including cash purchases made during the December transaction.

Isn't that a cash transaction that was over a year old that they tracked, not just months?

Also, is the "including" saying he made both credit and cash purchases at that same December transaction?

Ah, yes, right, over a year. If you're not tracking everything, how do you track that?

It sounds like he split the purchase, putting part of it on cash and part of it on a card. When I was a cashier in high school people would occasionally do this, though these days I don't know the motivation (back then it was people using food stamps and paying the balance in cash or using cash they had and charging the rest before charging was a thing rich people did to rack up points).

Card maxed out, maybe? Needed to break a $50 at the same time because the ATM sometimes gives those out instead of $20s and I hate that?

I mean, we’ve known this since Snowden haven’t we? I guess until now they were just sitting on all data in the universe and not doing anything with it.

Not the cash part.

I'm not really sure what this proves though - once they have his license plate, there are enough security cameras or automatic license plate readers in Northern Virginia that a sufficiently determined federal agency can look through footage to figure out where you were driving, and large companies have had video footage of the registers for ages. Court decisions on using license plate readers to track movements are a decade old at this point.

He bought 9V connectors at the end of 2019 and planted the bomb in the beginning of 2021. Are we to believe that microcenter retained CCTV footage of every cash register for over a year?

Are we to believe that microcenter retained CCTV footage of every cash register for over a year?

...were you under the impression that they didn't?

The cost of CCTV footage is in installing the CCTV, not in retaining the footage. Once you actually have any sort of retention system, the marginal costs are pretty cheap, and can be compelled by regulation.

I'd be pretty shocked if there's a regulation that CCTV footage must be retained for over a year. Any evidence for that?

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I mean they must have? The only way they'd know he paid cash was via security footage, or if he did the transaction 50% cash / 50% card so that the receipt info could be traced to him

Microcenter likes to register you as a customer. If he put his phone number into the system when he made his cash purchase, then the purchase would still be recorded under his account.

Yes, point reward systems are also part of the panopticon.

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