The man suspected of planting pipe bombs near the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican parties in 2021 believed “extraordinary acts of violence” were justified because “they were the point,” federal prosecutors said Sunday.
In a request filed Sunday to keep him behind bars while he awaits trial, the Justice Department released new allegations about the defendant's potential motives and actions. Brian Coleaccused of planting bombs on January 5, 2021.
Cole, 30, who lives with his mother and other family members in Virginia about 25 miles southwest of Capitol Hill, was arrested Dec. 4 and charged with transportation of an explosive device and attempted malicious destruction by explosive material, according to charging documents.
Cole has not yet entered a plea. His lead lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday evening.
Sunday's lawsuit alleges Cole harbored animosity toward both political parties during a time when he told investigators he “watched everything just get worse.”
The filing says he made these statements to FBI agents who questioned him at the FBI's Washington office after his arrest. The request, filed Sunday, was written by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Jones.
NBC News, citing three sources familiar with the matter, previously reported that Cole admitted to planting the pipe bombs in an interview with FBI agents. Two sources familiar with the matter also previously told NBC News that Cole believed in conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
In Sunday's document, prosecutors alleged that Cole told agents that if people think that “something as important as voting in a federal election is being rigged … then, like, somebody has to speak up, right?” Someone is upstairs.”
According to the documents, the “people at the top” included public figures “on both sides” who should not ignore people's grievances or call them “conspiracy theorists,” “bad people,” “Nazis” or “fascists.”
“If people feel like their voices are just being thrown away, then … at least someone should address this,” Cole said.
Jones wrote that Cole said he didn't like either side and that “something just snapped” after he saw “things get worse.” According to the documents, he directed his anger at the Democratic and Republican parties because “they were in power,” Cole told agents.
The document states that although the homemade bombs were planted the day before Attack on the US Capitol, January 6.during which supporters of President Donald Trump attempted to stop the certification of President Joe Biden's 2020 victory, the events were not related to each other.
“The defendant denied that his actions were directed against Congress or related to the trial that was scheduled to take place on January 6,” Jones wrote.
Prosecutors said Cole purchased some of the items needed to make pipe bombs between 2018 and 2020. It is claimed that he was inspired to use homemade bombs by his interest in Problems In Northern Ireland, documents show religious violence has flared for three decades and included bombings.
“According to the defendant, he did not really think about how people would react to the bombing, although he hoped that there would be news about it,” the lawsuit states. “The defendant stated that he did not check the devices before planting them.”
Cole drove to Washington from his home and stored the bombs, which he had assembled just hours earlier and wiped with disinfectant wipes, in a shoebox, according to the indictment. Prosecutors said he caused the devices to explode after an hour, but they did not do so for unclear reasons.
A Sunday statement said Cole was “greatly relieved” when he learned the bombs didn't go off because he didn't want to kill people.
Prosecutors said Cole threw all the bomb-making materials into a landfill after seeing himself on the news. The bomb's components, prosecutors wrote, included a pipe nipple, end caps, wires, a 9-volt battery and homemade black powder, among other things.
Cole said he hasn't told anyone about the pipe bombs since then, the document states. This month, agents searching his home found pipe nipples, iron plugs, wires and wire strippers. Agents also reportedly found a receipt for hand sanitizer and pipe nipples in Cole's car, as well as a shopping bag with end caps and a 9-volt battery.
“Ultimately, it was luck, not lack of effort, that the defendant failed to detonate one or both of his devices and that no one was killed or maimed as a result of his actions,” Jones wrote in the lawsuit. “Indeed, the defendant admitted that he detonated both devices within 60 minutes of installing them.”
In the filing, Jones noted that first responders, party leaders and “the vice president-elect and Speaker of the House” drove by the pipe bombs before they were discovered.
“His failure to achieve his goals does not mitigate the extremely dangerous nature of his crimes,” Jones wrote.
