Jonathan Kearsley: US Correspondent on arrested January 6 pipe bomber and more boat strikes

In 2021, the night before the infamous January 6 insurrection, bombs were placed at Democratic National Convention and Republican headquarters.

Police were able to deactivate the bombs, but, until now, the culprit was a mystery. 

On December 4, the FBI arrested a 30-year-old Virginia man, Brian Cole Jr., for the crime.

And, the US continues to target alleged drug boats, yesterday killing four people in the pacific. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Jonathan Cursley, US correspondence with that's aller Jonathan, Hello Heather.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Happy Friday to all of your listeners. As we edge
another day closer to the festive period.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Of cannot come soon enough, Jonathan. It's pretty ballsy of
the pin to gone to go and blow up another
boat while they're still in trouble over the last boat,
doesn't it. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
I mean so some would argue they're carrying on with
mission objective, and that is to try and stop drug
trafficking into the United States of America. The Pentagon announcing
earlier today, Yes another boat has been struck, and yes
four more people have been killed. But still the questions
remain over what happened on this September two strike, the
first when there were survivors reportedly seen clinging to the vessel,

(00:40):
and then the second strike order that killed them. We
saw Admiral Frank Brady Bradley, who was up at Capitol
Hill today. Yeah, he was giving close door briefings to
members of Congress, senior members of Congress about what took place.
And so some of the feedback from that is there
was a Democratic congressman who said he'd never seen anything
like it. So there are still plenty of questions exactly

(01:01):
who ordered what on that day. We've heard the Defense
Secretary's defense in this case that he wasn't there for
the second strike, but he stands by the Pentagon. But
there are still plenty of questions swirling and plenty of
demands for answers. Yet the Pentagon, the Department of War
as it is now called here, is carrying on with
the mission as it sees fit, and that is that

(01:22):
it wants to stop these Venezuelan boats from getting towards
the United States of America.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
Now, how is it that four years on from the
pipe bombing they've arrested somebody who they think is related
to it.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Yeah, this really is quite extraordinary. This has been a
manhunt that's gone almost five years to the day. It
was January five, twenty twenty one, when a suspect dressed
in a hoodie and wearing some Nike Airmax sneakers, as
it always later revealed, planted pipe bombs outside the headquarters
of the Republican Democratic Parties in Washington, d C. On
the eve of the January sixth insurrection at the Capitol.

(01:53):
You're fast forward all of these years and despite the
reward of five hundred thousand US dollars that have been
put forward and repeated please for help to try and
track down this person, there'd been nothing come forward. And
that was until today when we saw the FBI and
the Attorney General Panbody stand alongside each other and announced
that yes, they had arrested their suspect. They had arrested
a thirty year old man who lived in Virginia with

(02:15):
his parents, and they have charged him with crimes that
carrier maximum combined of thirty years in prison. He will
front of court tomorrow. He worked at a bail bond company.
A little more detail has been released. There is not
a clear idea yet on his motive, despite the fact
that it was political targets that were very much in
his frame, nor was there much detail on how they

(02:36):
actually got to the information leading to this arrest. Today
they simply said there was no new tips, there was
no new information that came forward. It was just good,
diligent police work and prosecutorial work. So hopefully the court
herea tomorrow gleans a little bit more answers as to
how the FBI managed to get one of America's most
wanted brilliant.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
Thanks for running us through a Jonathan, look after yourself
and enjoy the face of season. Jonathan Kurzley are US correspondent.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
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