Judge Amir Ali ruled Thursday that Brian J. Cole Jr., charged in a pipe-bomb case tied to the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, must remain jailed while he awaits trial. Ali’s decision followed an earlier ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh that the government’s allegations of danger could not be addressed through pretrial release conditions.
Cole, 30, pleaded not guilty to making and planting two pipe bombs near the national headquarters of the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee on the night of Jan. 5, 2021. The charges center on the question of whether Cole can be released safely before trial, not on whether prosecutors’ underlying case will ultimately succeed.
Ali upheld Sharbaugh’s finding that “no conditions of release can reasonably protect the public” from the danger Cole allegedly presents, according to the court proceedings summarized in the case reporting. Cole has remained in custody since his Dec. 4 arrest.
Prosecutors said authorities identified Cole using phone records and other evidence after the investigation, which they said confounded the FBI for more than four years. Prosecutors further said Cole confessed to trying to carry out “an extraordinary act of political violence.”
In court filings referenced in the reporting, prosecutors said Cole told investigators he was unhappy with how leaders of both political parties responded to “questions” about the 2020 presidential election, and they said he described a moment when “something just snapped.” Prosecutors rejected the defense characterization that the conduct was impulsive, writing that “the defendant’s pipe bombs — and the fear and terror they instilled in the general public — were the product of weeks of premeditation and planning.”
Defense attorneys argued that Cole should be freed from jail and placed on home detention with electronic monitoring. They said a defense expert concluded that the devices found near the RNC and DNC headquarters were not viable explosive devices and that “there was no possibility of death, injury or destruction as the devices were harmless.”
Cole’s background was also part of the dispute over release, with his attorneys saying he has been diagnosed with autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder and that he has no criminal record. Authorities said Cole lived with his parents in Woodbridge, Virginia.
If convicted on both charges, Cole faces up to 10 years in prison on one charge and up to 20 years on a second charge, which prosecutors said also carries a five-year mandatory minimum prison sentence.