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The man accused of planting pipe bombs outside the headquarters of both the Democratic and Republican national committees the night before the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol is set to appear at a federal detention hearing before a magistrate judge on Tuesday.
Earlier this month, authorities arrested Brian Cole Jr, of Woodbridge, Virginia. He has yet to enter a plea. Cole’s lawyers argue that he should be released while he awaits trial, as he does not present any danger. In a recent court filing, they write that Cole has agreed to home detention enforced by GPS monitoring, and will live under the supervision of his grandmother.
The defense also notes that Cole is on the autism spectrum, has been diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder and has “zero criminal history”, and there is “zero evidence that he will flee”. His lawyers also argue that no one was “actually harmed” as a result of the alleged crimes Cole has been charged with, since neither of the bombs exploded.
However, according to a recent justice department memo, Cole allegedly confessed to his crimes after he was arrested by law enforcement. At the time, his home was also searched and several bomb-making components were found on the premises. The FBI also obtained Cole’s credit card statements, which, they note, showed the purchase of several materials used to make the bombs.
The documents state that in a video interview with authorities, Cole, 30, said that he was in Washington DC to protest against the outcome of the 2020 election on 5 January. He initially maintained that he did not plant the pipe bombs, and was not the person pictured in surveillance footage on the evening of the attempted attacks.
However, after the interviewing agents “reminded the defendant that lying to them was an additional criminal offense” and asked him again whether he was the individual in the video, he “paused for approximately fifteen seconds, placed his head face down on the table, and answered, ‘yes’”.
The filing goes on to note that “the defendant walked the interviewing agents in detail through his construction, transportation, and planting of the pipe bombs”.
According to the papers, when agents pressed Cole on his motive, he said that “something just snapped” after “watching everything, just everything getting worse”.
Cole said that he wanted to do something “to the parties” because “they were in charge”. When asked about his decision to place the bombs at the RNC and DNC headquarters, the defendant reportedly responded: “I really don’t like either party at this point.”
Later in the interview, Cole apparently explained that the idea to use pipe bombs came from “his interest in history”, specifically the Troubles in Northern Ireland. “The defendant denied that his actions were directed toward Congress or related to the proceedings scheduled to take place on January 6,” according to the court documents. He was also “pretty relieved” that the devices did not detonate, and told agents that he planted the bombs at night because he did not want to kill people, according to the filing.
Cole’s lawyers have requested that the judge order the release of any video or written “statements, confessions or admissions” from the defendant to his legal team.
Meanwhile, federal prosecutors argue that Cole should remain in custody while awaiting trial, noting that he is charged with transporting explosives across state lines and maliciously attempting to use those explosives to damage or destroy property – the latter of which comes with a prison sentence of up to 20 years. “The defendant poses an intolerable risk of danger to the community if released,” prosecutors wrote in Sunday’s filing.
Cole’s arrest was the biggest development in a case that had long stumped law enforcement officials and inspired myriad conspiracy theories throughout the years of searching for the perpetrator.
