A Virginia man accused of setting off a pipe bomb in the nation’s capital on January 5, 2021 is requesting conditional release from prison because his attorney cited his autism diagnosis.
Federal prosecutors allege that 30-year-old Brian Cole is the man who planted explosive devices at the Republican and Democratic national party headquarters the night before rioters attacked the Capitol. He has been in custody since his arrest on December 4, when he was accused of carrying an explosive device and attempting malicious destruction by means of explosive material.
Cole has not yet entered a plea.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew Sherbaugh declined to rule on whether Cole would be released Tuesday, telling both sides that “significant arguments are pending.” Neither Cole nor several of his family members commented on Sherbaugh’s announcement at the hearing.
Cole, wearing a khaki jumpsuit, spent most of the hearing sitting quietly and attentively while both sides argued, occasionally adjusting his glasses or wiggling slightly in his chair. During the entire proceedings his attention was only on the judge.
In a filing in federal court Tuesday morning, Cole’s attorneys said he has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The filing described his diagnosis as a mild form of autism.
Several character reference letters from people who say they have known Cole for years were included in the filing.
A man who knew Cole for 22 years wrote, “Although I understand the seriousness of the allegations against Brian Cole Jr., these allegations seem completely out of character for Brian Cole Jr., as I have observed over the years.” The person’s name has been redacted.
Cole’s lawyers wrote that the government has presented no evidence that suggests evasive conduct or resistance to law enforcement. He argued that Cole poses no threat to the community and that he is happy to comply with all court-ordered restrictions.
Loretta Cole Donati, his grandmother, also testified Tuesday that she was willing to take Cole into her home for monitoring. She told the judge that her home was in a gated community and there were cameras “everywhere”.
His lawyers said Cole had worked the same job in his family’s bail bonds business for several years and had neither moved nor tried to flee.
“The Government argues that Mr. Cole spent nearly five years attempting to avoid detection,” the filing said. “This is not true: Mr. Cole lived with his parents full-time, never went anywhere, and followed the same routine every day.”
In a motion filed Sunday, the government alleged that the night Cole planted the bombs, he wore a mask and gloves and that he wiped the bombs with disinfectant. The government said Cole factory reset his phone more than 900 times from December 2020 to the day he was arrested.
Federal prosecutors have urged the judge to keep Cole in custody, alleging that Cole felt “extreme acts of violence” were justified because of his dislike of both political parties. The motion says the man told FBI agents that “something suddenly snapped” as he noticed “everything was getting worse.”
According to government filings, Cole told agents, he directed his anger at the Democratic and Republican parties because “they were in charge.”
Based on sources familiar with the matter, Cole confessed to planting the pipe bombs in an interview with FBI agents and that he believed in conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, NBC News previously reported.
Prosecutors confirmed in a filing Sunday that Cole told agents he thought “something was wrong” with the election and that Trump supporters who believed the election was being “tampered with” should not be called “conspiracy theorists,” “bad people,” “Nazis” or “fascists.”
He is accused of telling agents that he was not politically associated with his family members and that he did not tell them he was going to a protest in support of “the United States.” [then President] Trump.”
Cole is alleged to have been motivated to use the pipe bomb because of his interest in The Troubles in Northern Ireland, the sectarian war between Catholics and Protestants that erupted into violence in the 1970s. Violence, including bombing attacks, continued for three decades.
According to government filings, Kohl did not test the equipment before installing it, and they failed to operate as planned.
“Ultimately, it was luck, not lack of effort, that the defendant failed to detonate one or both of his devices and no one was killed or maimed because of his actions,” the government filing said. “Indeed, the defendant admitted that he set both devices to detonate 60 minutes after placing them.”
The judge also told lawyers Tuesday that he had not yet decided whether to accept the indictment handed up against Cole on Monday, after learning that the government had used a grand jury in D.C. Superior Court instead of federal court. He cited a separate D.C. criminal case with the same jurisdiction issue that is in the appeals process.
A D.C. Superior Court grand jury indicted Cole on the same charges listed in the criminal complaint, Sharbaugh said.
