Dec. 29 (UPI) — The man who allegedly placed pipe bombs outside of political party headquarters on Jan. 5, 2021, said he didn’t like either political party but believed that “extreme acts of violence” were justified because “they were in charge,” federal prosecutors reported Sunday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Jones filed a request Sunday to keep Brian Cole Jr., 30, in jail while he waits for his trial. Cole is from Woodbridge, Va., where he lives with his mother and other family members.
Cole was arrested Dec. 4 and hasn’t yet entered a plea. He is accused of placing two pipe bombs outside of the Democratic National Committee headquarters and the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C. Neither bomb detonated.
He has been charged with transporting an explosive device and attempted malicious destruction by means of explosive materials.
According to court filing, he told investigators that he disliked both parties and was “watching everything, just everything getting worse.”
“If people feel that their votes are like just being thrown away, then … at the very least someone should address it,” Cole said, according to the filing.
“According to the defendant, he was not really thinking about how people would react when the bombs detonated, although he hoped there would be news about it,” ABC News reported the filing said. “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.”
“The defendant denied that his actions were directed toward Congress or related to the proceedings scheduled to take place on January 6,” Jones wrote in the filing.
A detention hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. EST Tuesday.