Tag: bombings

Massie suggests ‘wrong person’ arrested in Jan. 6 DC pipe bomb case

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that he does not believe federal authorities arrested the true culprit behind two pipe bombs planted outside the Democratic and Republican national committee offices on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

“I believe FBI arrested the wrong person in the J6 pipe bomb case,” Massie wrote on X, linking to an analysis by the conservative outlet The Blaze that he said found “stark physical differences” between Brian Cole Jr., who was arrested, and the suspect shown in videos released by federal and local law enforcement.

Cole was arrested in December after what government officials called an “aha moment” that led to a breakthrough in the nearly five-year investigation. The pipe bombs had become a lingering mystery of the days surrounding the riot.

Prosecutors have said that Cole gave a “detailed confession” after he was arrested, allegedly telling investigators he became “bewildered” by claims the 2020 election was stolen from President Trump and thought someone needed to “speak up” for people who believed the allegations of election fraud. He was the first suspect publicly identified by law enforcement. 

However, Cole has pleaded not guilty to two federal charges, and his attorneys have also suggested the government apprehended the wrong man. They have pointed to his diagnoses for autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder as reason for any suspicious behavior.

The Hill requested comment from the FBI and Justice Department.

The analysis by The Blaze claimed to show that Cole’s physical dimensions, gait, posture and mannerisms are at odds with the hoodie-clad suspect seen in videos released by law enforcement, though the outlet acknowledges that “poor video quality” complicated its efforts to review the footage.

Cole faces counts of transporting an explosive device in interstate commerce and attempted malicious destruction by means of explosive materials. The first count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, while the second count carries a five-year minimum sentence and up to 20 years.  

A judge ordered him to remain detained ahead of trial, after finding that there are “no conditions of release” the court could impose that would “reasonably assure the safety of the community.” His lawyers are seeking further review.

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Over 5 Explosive Devices Discovered in Fort Washington Park in Maryland

On Sunday, five explosive devices were discovered in Fort Washington Park in Maryland.

The Prince George’s County Fire Department Bomb Squad was called to the scene to neutralize the devices after receiving a call of two suspicious packages in the woods.

Less than 24 hours later, additional explosive devices were discovered at the park, and the PGFD Bomb Squad is working to secure the devices.

In a press release, the Prince George’s County Fire Department stated, “5 devices were rendered safe before operations were suspended after sunset. This morning, additional explosive devices were located.”

“The Bomb Squad is on scene working to render the devices safe,” added the PG County Fire Department.

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Israel confirms Michigan synagogue attacker’s brother was Hezbollah terrorist commander

The brother of a terrorist who rammed a vehicle into a Michigan Jewish preschool was a Hezbollah commander, Israel Defense Forces have said.

Ayman Muhammad Ghazali, 41, was shot dead after driving the vehicle into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, Mich., on Thursday.

His brother, Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali, was responsible for managing weapons operations within a specialized branch of Hezbollah’s Badr Unit, the IDF said in a statement Sunday morning.

This unit of the Lebanese terror group is responsible for launching hundreds of rockets toward Israeli civilians throughout the recent war with Iran, the IDF said.

Ghazali’s two brothers, a niece, and a nephew were killed in an Israeli airstrike on March 5 in the town of Mashgharah, Lebanon, just days before the attack, a local official told AP Friday.

The family had sat down for their fast-breaking meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan when they were struck.

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Amsterdam: Explosion at Jewish school condemned by mayor as ‘deliberate attack against the Jewish community’

A bomb has gone off in a Jewish school in the capital city of the Netherlands, Amsterdam, in “a deliberate attack against the Jewish community,” according to the city’s mayor.

Mayor Femke Halsema said in a Saturday press release that an overnight explosion in a residential area on the south side of the city, which caused some damage to the school.

“This is a cowardly act of aggression toward the Jewish community,” Halsema said. “I understand the fear and anger of Jewish Amsterdammers. They are increasingly confronted with antisemitism, and that is unacceptable.

No injuries were reported in the incident.

Halsema reported that police obtained Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) surveillance footage of an individual planting the explosive near Cheider, a Jewish school.

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Parents of alleged ISIS-loving NYC bomb thrower own $2.5M Pennsylvania home, are naturalized citizens from Afghanistan

The parents of one of the alleged ISIS-loving wannabe terrorists who tried to detonate an IED near Gracie Mansion own a gorgeous, $2.25 million home – a sign they seized the American Dream after arriving from Afghanistan decades ago, The Post has learned.

Alleged teen bomber Ibrahim Kayumi’s family home is a 5,800-square-foot manse with six bedrooms and five bathrooms in scenic Newtown, Pennsylvania, records show.

Kayumi, 19, and his friend Emir Balat, 18, traveled from the blissful enclave of McMansions in Bucks County to the Big Apple, where they allegedly hurled homemade bombs at a racist agitator’s anti-Muslim protest outside the mayoral residence on the Upper East Side Saturday, according to police and prosecutors.

The stunning attempted bombing – which NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said was being investigated as an act of “ISIS-inspired terrorism” – shocked Kayumi’s neighbors.

“This is not the kind of place you think of when you think Islamic terror,” one neighbor, Kathy, said Monday. “This is Americana, here. It’s middle class, but in the best way.

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FBI Launches Terrorism Probe as Bombs at New York City Counter-Protest Reported to Have Deadly TATP Explosive Favored by Islamist Terrorists

The two homemade bombs that failed to detonate at a counter-protest against an anti-Islam demonstration in New York City on Saturday contained the deadly explosive TATP (triacetone triperoxide), aka “Mother of Satan,” that is favored by Islamist terrorists, according to reports. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force has reportedly taken the lead in the investigation. (Previous TGP article.)

One bomb was thrown at an anti-Islam rally held at Gracie Mansion, official home to New York City’s first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani, that was led by controversial J6er Jake Lang. One suspect reportedly yelled “Allahu akbar” when the bomb was thrown. The second bomb was dropped after being ignited by a fleeing suspect.

Neither of the bombs, which reportedly contained nuts and bolts, went off–saving countless lives. New York City police ran to the danger and secured the bombs. (A third suspected device is being investigated after being found several blocks away from Gracie Mansion on Sunday.)

Two men from Pennsylvania, Emir Bala, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, were arrested at the scene in connection to the attempted bombings. The New York Post reported the men are “self-radicalized” supporters of ISIS and confessed to the bombing. Both men reportedly had recently traveled to the Middle East.

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UK RELEASES Dangerous Bomb Plot Terrorist From Prison EARLY

The UK continues its slide into absurdity, where convicted terrorists plotting to bomb British targets get early release or even run for office, while citizens daring to post about grooming gangs or question mass migration face prison time.

The latest insanity comes in the case of Zahid Iqbal, one of Britain’s most dangerous terrorists, who is poised for release just weeks from now—a full three years ahead of schedule.

Jailed in 2013 for plotting to bomb an Army base in Luton using instructions from an Al-Qaeda manual titled “How to make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom,” Iqbal admitted to engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism.

Recordings revealed Iqbal suggesting an IED attached to a remote-controlled toy car to target a TA centre. He also facilitated travel for extremist training abroad. Despite expert advice against it, the parole board has greenlit his freedom under strict conditions, even ignoring warnings from his prison and community offender managers.

Reform UK’s crime adviser Colin Sutton called it a “baffling decision,” noting that Iqbal’s prior early release in 2021 was revoked for non-compliance, and questioning why he’d behave now.

“You know, there’s an expectation we’ve all got. These are the most serious offences that you can commit against our society,” Sutton urged, adding “this wasn’t a guy in his bedroom cooking something up. This was somebody who arranged training. He had links with al-Qaeda. He was a proper terrorist. And he was released early in 2021 and had to be called back in because he wasn’t complying with the conditions.”

This isn’t isolated. As we previously covered, Shahid Butt, convicted in 1999 for conspiring to bomb the British consulate in Yemen, is standing for election as a pro-Gaza independent in Birmingham’s Sparkhill ward. Linked to an armed Islamist group and past violence, Butt urges Muslim youth to “work out at the gym and learn to fight” against “disbelievers.”

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Man Charged Over Threats Ahead of Vance Disneyland Visit

A 22-year-old man from Anaheim, California, is facing federal charges after allegedly falsely claiming he placed pipe bombs inside Disneyland before Vice President JD Vance visited the park with his family last year.

Marco Antonio Aguayo is accused of posting messages on the Walt Disney Co.’s official Instagram page after learning that Vance was visiting the park on July 12, according to the criminal complaint. He was charged Wednesday with one count of making threats against the president and successors to the presidency, the Department of Justice said in a news release.

Aguayo is expected to make his initial appearance Tuesday at U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, California. If convicted, Aguayo faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

Aguayo “is now in the Unhappiest Place on Earth,” Bill Essayli, the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, wrote Friday night on X. “Today, Aguayo was arrested and charged with threatening to kill @VP Vance with pipe bombs last summer when the Vice President and his family visited Disneyland.

“A threat to kill a public official is a federal crime. First Amendment rights do not extend to threats to kill or injure others, especially our nation’s elected officials. Such conduct will not be tolerated and will not go unpunished.”

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Did Trump Accidentally Pardon Accused Jan 6 Pipe-Bomber?

It took nearly five years for the FBI to finally arrest someone for planting pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican parties on the eve of the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot, but the suspect may avoid serving a prison sentence thanks to the language in President Trump’s sweeping pardon of those who participated in Jan. 6 mayhem.

In that pardon issued on the day of his 2025 inauguration, Trump commuted the sentences of 14 people convicted of offenses springing from the Jan 6 demonstrations. Next, seeking to free some 1,500 others from convictions or pending prosecutions, Trump wrote, “I do hereby…grant a full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.”

It seems immaterial that the charges against Brian Cole Jr for planting bombs came after Trump’s pardon, notes former federal prosecutor Ankush Khardori, writing at Politico: 

Trump could have specified that the pardon applied only to people who had been convicted or charged “as of the date” of his pardon…but there is no such language in Trump’s proclamation. Lest there be any doubt, the Supreme Court made clear more than 150 years ago that presidents have the constitutional authority to do this — that is, to issue “preemptive pardons” for past conduct even if that conduct has not been charged at the time of the pardon.  

In another context — relating to Trump’s pardon of those who sought to send alternate slates of electors to the 2020 Electoral College — Trump’s DOJ has claimed it has the power to determine which crimes Trump intended to include, but courts may take a dim view of that kind of de facto delegation of presidential pardon power, particularly where the plain language of the pardon is unambiguous and deliberately sweeping.

Federal prosecutors are behaving as if they fully appreciate the pardon’s potential to set Cole free and render their efforts futile. In both court filings and remarks in a hearing, they avoided using language that links Cole’s alleged actions to Jan. 6.   

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This Is How the DC Pipe Bomb Suspect Felt About Republicans and Democrats

The individual accused of setting pipe bombs at the RNC and DNC headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021, confessed to the crime and said he despised both political parties.

The FBI apprehended Brian Cole, 30, earlier this month after years of investigating the pipe bombs.

From NBC News:

The man suspected of placing pipe bombs near the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican parties in 2021 felt “extreme acts of violence” were justified because “they were in charge,” federal prosecutors said Sunday.

In a request filed Sunday to keep him behind bars while he awaits trial, the Justice Department unveiled new allegations about the potential motive and actions of defendant Brian Cole, accused of planting the bombs on Jan. 5, 2021.

Cole, 30, who lives with his mother and other family members in Virginia about 25 miles southwest of Capitol Hill, was arrested Dec. 4 and charged with transporting an explosive device and attempted malicious destruction by means of explosive materials, according to charging documents.

Cole has yet to enter pleas. His lead defense counsel did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday night.

Sunday’s court filing alleges Cole had animosity for both political parties at a time when, he told investigators, he was “watching everything, just everything getting worse.”

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