Jan. 2 (UPI) — A Washington, D.C., federal magistrate judge ruled Friday that a man who allegedly set pipe bombs outside of political party headquarters on Jan. 5, 2021, must stay behind bars before his trial.
Brian Cole Jr., 30, faces charges of transporting an explosive device and attempted malicious destruction by means of explosive materials. The charges have a maximum sentence of 30 years.
He allegedly placed two bombs in front of the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee headquarters, though the bombs never detonated. He was arrested Dec. 4 and hasn’t entered a plea.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Jones filed a request on Dec. 30 to keep Cole in jail while he awaits trial. Cole’s attorneys wanted him released into the custody of his grandmother.
Judge Matthew Sharbaugh wrote in his ruling filed on Friday: “Although home incarceration and a GPS monitor would provide some check against Mr. Cole’s ability to carry out any menacing or dangerous conduct in the community, the Court is simply not satisfied these conditions rise to the necessary level.
“This is particularly true based on the severity of the potential danger Mr. Cole is alleged to pose, given his alleged persistent acquisition and retention of so-called ‘bombmaking parts,’ and given his reported penchant and capacity to create explosive devices and deploy them in public settings.
“If the plan had succeeded, the results 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,” Sharbaugh wrote.
Sharbaugh announced Dec. 30 that Cole was indicted on the two charges but that he has not yet accepted the indictment because the Justice Department’s move seeking federal charges from a local grand jury is part of an ongoing debate in the courts. That case is pending in the federal appeals court.
According to a court filing, Cole told investigators that he disliked both political parties and was “watching everything, just everything getting worse.”
He believed the allegation that the 2020 election was stolen.
“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,” 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,” the filing said.
Cole is from Woodbridge, Va., where he lives with his mother and other family members.
The case baffled law enforcement for almost five years. The pipe bombs were made of 1-inch galvanized pipes, 8 inches long with end caps, homemade black powder, wires, metal clips and a kitchen timer. The FBI has said the bombs were viable and could have hurt people nearby if they had detonated. The bombs sat for 15 hours before being discovered.