Brian Cole Jr.
WASHINGTON (7News) — The man accused of planting a pair of pipe bombs outside the Republican and Democratic National Committees on the eve of Jan. 6, 2021, confessed to the crime, according to new court documents filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. on Sunday.
The court filing states Brian Cole Jr. initially denied making and setting the pipe bombs, but confessed two hours into his interview after FBI investigators showed him a still image of the suspect from surveillance video close in time to the planting of the bombs. He denied to investigators that his actions were directed toward Congress or related to the proceedings scheduled to take place on January 6, when the 2020 presidential election results were supposed to be certified but were ultimately delayed by insurrectionists alleging the election was rigged despite evidence to the contrary. The bombs never went off and were discovered the following afternoon.
Cole told investigators that “something just snapped” after “watching everything, just everything getting worse,” states the court filing, amid questions raised by President Trump and Republicans about the results of the 2020 presidential election. Cole said he wanted to do something for both parties because “they were in charge,” according to prosecutors.
“When asked why he placed the devices at the RNC and DNC, the defendant responded, ‘I really don’t like either party at this point,"” states the court filing.
Read the new court documents below:
Cole told FBI investigators the idea to use pipe bombs came from his interest in history — specifically the Troubles in Ireland, the filing states, which was a violent time in Northern Ireland with many terrorist bombings.
Cole told investigators he learned to make the black powder for the bombs from a video game that listed the ingredients, and he watched various science-related videos on YouTube to help make the devices, according to prosecutors. He said he hid the bombmaking materials in a closet inside his Virginia home so another family member wouldn’t find them, the filing states, and assembled the pipe bombs in the hours before he drove to D.C. on January 5, 2021.
“The information is out there — we can’t take it all down off the net. So it’s just a continuing threat,” explained David Malet, PhD, associate professor of Justice, Law, and Criminology at the American University School of Public Affairs. Malet has been researching terrorism and radicalization for about 20 years.
“I think [Cole] is just sort of fitting into this broader trend of somebody who wants to burn the whole system down, somebody who’s an accelerationist,” Malet explained. “We see them on the far right and the far left who really just say that the whole system needs to go; whatever else comes next will be better.”
Cole’s charges include transporting an explosive device in interstate commerce with the intent to kill, injure, or intimidate any individual or unlawfully to damage or destroy any building, vehicle, or other real or personal property. He is also charged with attempted malicious destruction by means of fire and explosive materials.
Cole is due back in court on December 30.
