Brian J. Cole Jr. will remain in custody before trial after a federal magistrate judge rejected his bid for pretrial release in a case tied to attempted bombings on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh ruled that Cole, who is charged with planting two pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee, must stay jailed while prosecutors pursue the case. Sharbaugh concluded that there were no conditions of release that could reasonably protect the public from the danger that prosecutors allege Cole poses.
In court filings described in reporting, prosecutors said Cole confessed to placing pipe bombs outside the RNC and DNC headquarters only hours before a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol. Prosecutors said Cole told investigators that he hoped the explosives would detonate and “hoped there would be news about it,” and Sharbaugh wrote that the plan did not proceed as intended.
Sharbaugh also pointed to what he said the consequences could have been if the plan had succeeded. In the ruling described by the Associated Press, the judge wrote that the outcome could have been devastating—creating a greater sense of terror on the eve of a high-security Congressional proceeding, causing serious property damage in the heart of Washington, D.C., grievously injuring DNC or RNC staff and other innocent bystanders, or worse.
The judge’s decision also addressed the defense proposal that Cole be released under home detention with GPS monitoring. Cole’s attorneys asked for that form of release, arguing that he does not have a criminal record, that he has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and that he lives with his parents in Woodbridge, Virginia.
According to prosecutors, Cole continued to purchase bomb-making components for months after the Jan. 6 riot, and he told the FBI that he planted the pipe bombs because “something just snapped.” Prosecutors also said Cole believed someone needed to “speak up” for people who believed the 2020 election—won by Democrat Joe Biden—was stolen, and that he wanted to target the country’s political parties because they were “in charge.”
Cole’s attorneys argued that he “simply does not pose a danger to the community” and said the risk the government posited was theoretical and backward-looking, pointing to Cole’s past four years living at home with his family without incident. Even so, Sharbaugh wrote that the sudden and abrupt motivation alleged by prosecutors raised concerns about how quickly similar conduct might recur.
If convicted on both charges, Cole faces up to 10 years of imprisonment on one count and up to 20 years on a second count that carries a five-year mandatory minimum prison sentence.