CNN anchor Jake Tapper described the alleged Jan. 6 pipe bomber as a "white man" on Thursday—then aired a photo showing that was clearly not the case.
"Brian Cole Jr., a 30-year-old white man from the D.C. suburbs, is charged with transporting an explosive device in interstate commerce and with malicious destruction by means of explosion," Tapper said on The Lead.
Minutes later, CNN featured a photo of Cole, a black man. Tapper did not correct his mistake.
"We do have new photographs, as you saw during that presentation … new photographs of the suspect. We're showing those to you right now," Tapper said.
CNN correspondent Brian Todd, reporting from Cole's home in Woodbridge, Va., also didn't correct Tapper's mistake. He described the suspect as "antisocial" and "reclusive" without noting Cole's race.
The FBI arrested Cole on Thursday, nearly six years after a masked man was caught on grainy footage placing bombs near the Democratic and Republican party headquarters on Jan. 5, 2021. At one point, Kamala Harris, then the vice president-elect, stood within 20 feet of the bomb near the Democratic National Committee headquarters.
Attorney General Pam Bondi blamed the Biden administration for leaving the case unresolved for so long.
"This cold case languished for four years until Director Patel and Deputy Director Bongino came to the FBI," she said. "The FBI, along with U.S. Attorney Pirro, have worked tirelessly for months sifting through evidence that had been sitting at the FBI with the Biden Administration for four long years."
"What I will tell you is that evidence has been sitting there collecting dust," she added. "This wasn't a new tip. It wasn't some new evidence. It was the hard work of President Trump's administration."
Federal authorities tracked the suspect's cell phone location, subpoenaed vendors that sell bomb parts, and even tracked down the seller of the sneakers he was wearing. Cole will appear in a federal court Friday.
