Suspect accused of planting pipe bombs on eve of January 6 faces new charges

The individual accused of placing pipe bombs near the headquarters of both the Republican and Democratic national committees on the night before the January 6 Capitol attack is now facing two more felony counts, as detailed in a newly released indictment on Wednesday.

Brian Cole Jr, 30, of Woodbridge, Virginia, had previously been arrested in December and charged with transporting and positioning two improvised explosive devices outside the DNC and RNC buildings. The updated indictment introduces charges of attempting to use weapons of mass destruction and carrying out an act of terrorism while armed.

Although the devices never exploded, the FBI has stated they were functional. For years, the investigation remained unsolved, with officials from the Trump administration emphasizing that resolving the case was a major priority.

Cole initially entered a not guilty plea to the original charges, though he has yet to be formally arraigned on the new ones. In January, a judge ordered that he remain in custody ahead of his trial, with a memorandum opinion from the court concluding that Cole “poses an intolerable risk of danger to the community if released”, leading to approval of the government’s request for pre-trial detention.

The judge further stated that “there are no conditions of release the court could impose to reasonably assure the safety of the community”, rejecting defense proposals that Cole could be monitored under home confinement with GPS tracking.

Court documents filed last year revealed that Cole told investigators he believed the 2020 election had been interfered with and that “someone needs to speak up”. During an interview, authorities said he “walked the interviewing agents in detail through his construction, transportation, and planting of the pipe bombs”.

According to the filings, when agents pressed Cole on his motive, he said that “something just snapped” after “watching everything, just everything getting worse”.