Jan 6 pipe bomb suspect to remain in jail ahead of trial

Judge ‘lacks confidence’ that releasing Brian J. Cole Jr. before trial ‘can reasonably guard against the risk of future danger’

The Virginia man accused of planting pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican National Committees the night before the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol will remain behind bars ahead of his trial, a federal judge has ruled.

Friday’s decision was made two days after Brian Cole Jr. appeared in court in Washington, D.C., where his attorneys argued he should be released to home detention because he is not a threat.

“The sudden and abrupt motivation behind Mr. Cole’s alleged actions presents concerns about how quickly the same abrupt and impulsive conduct might recur,” Judge Matthew Sharbaugh wrote.

The judge noted that Cole allegedly told FBI investigators that he assembled the devices “in the hours before he drove” to the nation’s capital January 5, 2021.

After a years-long investigation, Cole was arrested earlier this month and charged with transporting explosives across state lines and with maliciously attempting to use the bombs to damage or destroy property.

The judge’s decision follows allegations from the Department of Justice that 30-year-old man told investigators that he believed someone needed to “speak up” for people who believed the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

Brian Cole Jr. appeared in federal court December 30 as his attorneys argued that the 30-year-old should be released as he awaits trial for allegedly planting pipe bombs in Washington DC before the January 6 attack (AP)

Cole has not yet entered a plea and a trial date has not been set.

Cole’s attorneys argued that he should be released, citing his diagnoses of autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), adding that he posed no threat to society.

“Mr. Cole is an African American adult who has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Level 1 and with obsessive compulsive disorder,” they wrote in a Tuesday filing.

In court, they argued that Cole had no criminal history, was not on parole or probation, and that he has strong ties to the communities.

“The unique conditions surrounding January 5-6, 2021, are unlikely to recur in a way that would present the same risk profile for Mr. Cole,” his attorneys said.

But prosecutors fought to keep Cole behind bars, pointing to the “hours-long videotaped confession, in which he explained his criminal conduct and intent in detail to investigators.”

“Ultimately, it was luck, not lack of effort, that the defendant failed to detonate one or both of his devices and that no one was killed or maimed due to his actions,” prosecutors contended.

Cole’s family members left a courthouse in Washington after a judge denied his release from pretrial detention January 2, noting that the court ‘lacks confidence’ that conditions on his release ‘can reasonably guard against the risk of future danger’ (Getty Images)

In his order, Judge Sharbaugh noted that the speed with which Cole was able to allegedly assemble the bombs “suggest he can prepare dangerous explosive devices in short order, over a matter of hours, not necessarily days or weeks.”

“Given the precipitousness with which Mr. Cole reportedly acted, and the speed with which he was able to construct the so-called ‘pipe bombs,’ the Court lacks confidence that even the most rigorous set of release conditions can reasonably guard against the risk of future danger,” the judge added.

He also noted that Cole is accused of purchasing additional bomb-making materials after allegedly planting the devices.

Details of Cole’s interview following his arrest were released in a new filing Sunday. He told investigators that “something just snapped” after “watching everything, just everything getting worse” in the aftermath of the 2020 election, according to the filing from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Piro.

Authorities had not previously outlined a possible motive for the pipe bombs or detailed any connection between the devices and the Capitol insurrection. But it was previously reported that Cole appeared to tell agents that he believed baseless conspiracy theories that President Donald Trump was cheated.

At Cole’s hearing on Tuesday, his attorneys also argued that no one was “actually harmed” as a result of the alleged crimes, since neither of the bombs — previously described as “viable” and “could have seriously injured or killed innocent bystanders” — did not detonate.

Cole was “not really thinking about how people would react when the bombs detonated, although he hoped there would be news about it,” his attorneys wrote.

“The defendant stated that he had not tested the devices before planting them. He claimed that when he learned that the devices did not detonate, he was 'pretty relieved,' and asserted that he placed the devices at night because he did not want to kill people.”

During the hearing, the judge pressed the prosecution for details about the potential damage radius of the devices had they detonated.

“It’s very difficult ... given the number of variables to estimate,” government attorneys said, according to a CBS reporter inside the courtroom.

“But the examiner has opined that these devices had all the necessary components to explode. They were viable pipe bombs.”

Cole allegedly confessed to planting the bombs after investigators showed him footage from outside RNC and DNC headquarters (FBI)

Footage showed the suspect walking through the Capitol Hill neighborhood before placing bombs outside both buildings in 2021. He wasn’t arrested until December 2025 (Department of Justice)

In the recorded interview following his arrest, Cole admitted to investigators that he “has never really been an openly political person” and that “no one knows” his political views, including his family, according to Sunday’s filing.

“I didn’t agree with what people were doing, like just telling half the country that they — that their — that they just need to ignore it. I didn’t think that was a good idea, so I went to the protest,” Cole said, according to the filing.

“If people feel that their votes are like just being thrown away, then … at the very least someone should address it.”

But when asked why he targeted the RNC and DNC headquarters, Cole responded, “I really don’t like either party at this point.” He added that he wanted to do something “to the parties” because “they were in charge.”

Pipe bombs were placed near the offices of both the Democratic and Republican national committees hours before an angry mob stormed into the Capitol in a bid to halt the certification of Joe Biden’s victory (REUTERS)

Cole initially maintained that he did not plant the devices. But after investigators showed him a photo of a Nike Air Max Speed Turf shoe worn by the suspect seen on surveillance footage, he admitted that he “used to have a pair” and said he “threw them away” because “they were old and they were coming apart.”

Federal agents then reminded him that lying to them could result in additional criminal charges. Asked again whether it was him in the video, Cole then paused for approximately 15 seconds, “placed his head face down on the table, and answered, ‘yes,’” according to the filing.

Cole denied that the planted pipe bombs were directed at Congress or tied to the certification of the electoral college votes at the Capitol, which was the the center of the attack the very next day.