The Virginia man accused of planting pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican National Committees on the eve of the Jan 6 attack on the US Capitol in 2021 will remain behind bars ahead of his trial, a federal judge has ruled.
The decision was made two days after Brian Cole Jr. appeared in court on Tuesday where his attorneys argued he should be released to home detention because he is not a threat, however, prosecutors disagreed.
“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 in the decision released on Friday. “More, Mr. Cole reportedly told the FBI that he assembled the IEDs ‘in the hours before he drove to Washington, D.C. on 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 comes following a new Sunday filing revealed that the 30-year-old told investigators that he believed someone needed to “speak up” for people who believed the 2020 election was stolen, according to federal prosecutors.
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.
In the decision on Friday, the judge noted that the speed at 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 pointed out how Cole allegedly continued to purchase bomb making parts after allegedly planting the bombs.
