The man accused of planting pipe bombs outside the Republican and Democratic national committee headquarters ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection has moved to challenge a federal district court’s decision keeping him jailed as his case proceeds.
Defense attorneys for Brian Cole Jr. on Tuesday formally notified the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., that their client intends to appeal his continued detention to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, seeking to overturn rulings denying him pretrial release.
The notice of appeal targets two orders, including a Jan. 16 order denying review of a federal magistrate judge’s rejection of Cole’s request for release, and a subsequent Jan. 29 district judge’s minute order detaining him pending trial.
Cole remains behind bars after U.S. District Judge Amir Ali upheld a magistrate judge’s conclusion that no combination of release conditions could reasonably ensure public safety. Cole has pleaded not guilty to two federal charges related to explosive devices.
At a recent detention hearing, Cole’s lawyers pointed to his lack of a criminal record and diagnoses of autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder as grounds for release, arguing that the government’s claim he could not be safely monitored was “entirely farcical based on the facts.” Ali was unconvinced, stressing that “the actual nature of the offense matters here.”
Cole was arrested last month after what federal officials described as an “aha moment” that broke open a nearly five-year investigation. Prosecutors say purchasing records, phone data, and other evidence tied Cole to two pipe bombs left outside the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee on Jan. 5, 2021.
Last month, U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh found that Cole’s alleged conduct was not an isolated episode, as the government has claimed, and therefore could not justify releasing him under the supervision of his grandmother, who volunteered to serve as a third-party custodian. Sharbaugh cited evidence in the criminal complaint that Cole continued purchasing materials commonly used to make explosives through at least the summer of 2022, and that investigators recovered similar materials from his home and vehicle when he was arrested.
Cole’s defense team has argued those materials were for benign “science experiments,” including attempts to make rocket fuel. In a sworn declaration filed last week, Cole’s mother, Delicia Cole, said her son had long engaged in such experiments. Prosecutors countered that claim, saying a closer look at Cole’s purchasing history showed he bought sulfur dust and beaker sets in 2018, but not fins or cones typically associated with model rocketry.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Jones told the court the evidence reflects a “yearslong continuum of conduct,” not a harmless hobby. He also said the pipe bombs recovered in 2021 contained all the components of functional explosive devices, even though they did not detonate.
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Prosecutors have pointed to evidence immediately after Cole’s arrest, when he allegedly told investigators he was worried the devices were volatile and handled them one at a time to avoid triggering an explosion, and that Cole allegedly expressed his relief that the bombs did not detonate.
Cole’s next court hearing is scheduled for Feb. 27. A trial date has not yet been set. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison on one explosives count and a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 20 years on the second charge.
