DC pipe bomb suspect to remain detained pending trial

The Virginia man accused of planting pipe bombs outside DNC and RNC headquarters on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol will remain behind bars.

A federal magistrate judge ruled Friday that Brian Cole Jr. must remain detained pending trial, describing him as a potential danger.

“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,” Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh wrote in his ruling.

“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,” he continued.

“If the plan had succeeded, the results could have been devasting: 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.

The FBI descended on Cole’s family’s home in Woodbridge in December. He was charged with transporting an explosive device and attempted malicious destruction by means of explosive materials. Cole was indicted on the same charges by a local D.C. Superior Court grand jury, but whether that indictment will apply in federal court has yet to be decided by Sharbaugh.

Prosecutors say Cole confessed to planting the bombs, but he has not entered a plea.

Cole’s defense argued for his release, saying he had no criminal record and that he was not a danger to the community, as News4 reported. They said he had never been in trouble and works in his father’s bail bonds business.

The Virginia man charged with planting pipe bombs in D.C. on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol appeared in court for the first time the day after he was arrested in Woodbridge. In court, a half-dozen family members looked on. Some yelled, “We love you, Brian!” and cried. News4’s Paul Wagner reports.