Feds used ‘psychological’ coercion to strong-arm confession out of autistic J6 pipe bomb suspect, defense claims

Defense attorneys for the autistic J6 pipe bomb suspect have claimed in a new court filing that FBI agents “coerced” him into confessing after he mentally short-circuited during their lengthy interrogation.

Quick background

On Dec. 4, 2025, Brian Cole — a 31-year-old Virginia man “requiring support” on account of a level-1 Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis, according to his attorneys — was arrested and interviewed by federal agents, having been accused of planting pipe bombs at the headquarters of the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee on Jan. 5, 2021.

‘How am I supposed to explain that I’m innocent?’

Cole was initially charged with interstate transportation of explosives and with malicious attempt to use explosives. A superseding indictment filed on Wednesday further charges Cole with two felony counts of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and two felony counts of committing an act of terrorism while armed.

According to court documents, the FBI identified Cole as a suspect partly on the basis of his alleged purchases of “multiple items consistent with the components that were used to manufacture the pipe bombs placed at the RNC and DNC,” including five nine-volt battery connectors, multiple endcaps, two white kitchen timers, 14-gauge electrical wire, and steel wool.

These alleged purchases took place months and in some cases years ahead of the incident, as the FBI affidavit acknowledges.

The FBI further alleged that Cole “purchased equipment that would facilitate the manufacturing of a pipe bomb”; that cellphone data places him in the area around the time the bombs were supposedly planted; and that his Nissan Sentra was observed driving past a license plate reader near where the devices were ultimately found.

John Shoreman, one of Cole’s defense attorneys, noted just weeks after the arrest that the suspect — who has pleaded not guilty in the case — is an autistic, “mild-mannered man” who lived with his mother and “whose life is run by strict routine.”

RELATED: ‘We have compromised the FBI’: Pokemon lovers boast of shocking hack on federal website

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Shoreman, responding to prosecutors’ claim that Cole confessed to planting bombs, told NPR in January, “Whether or not that post-arrest interview [on Dec. 4] constitutes a confession — a lawful confession — is something that we will need to visit at a later stage in this case.”

Stimming out

Cole’s attorneys filed a motion on Tuesday requesting the suppression of statements that Cole made to the FBI during his interrogation on Dec. 4, arguing that their client had not provided law enforcement with “a voluntary confession.”

According to the defense, the video and transcript of Cole’s interrogation:

show the methodical dismantling of a man whose autism spectrum disorder left him unable to withstand the psychologically coercive tactics deployed against him, and who told the agents so, in real time, while they pressed him, told him his professions of innocence were criminal, and threatened to “drag” his family through the same experience Mr. Cole had gone through that morning — the morning that started at gunpoint.

The defense characterized the events of Dec. 4, 2025, as discombobulating for Cole, starting with his arrest at gunpoint, his isolation in an interview room with a pair of special agents, and his alleged instruction by the FBI agents prior to Mirandization that he would benefit in the long run from being “forthright with us.”

The defense indicated that Cole was utterly bewildered by the accusation that he was involved in the pipe bomb plot.

Citing the transcript, the defense claims Cole initially responded: “Whoa, wait a minute. Wait a minute. … This, this is a misunderstanding. Please tell me. Please tell me. Please, please, please tell me.”

Cole allegedly also stated, “Please tell me this is a misunderstanding,” another five times, begged to be given time to process the information, then repeatedly stated, “Oh, my God.”

According to the defense’s motion, Cole “underscored his deteriorating mental state to the agents dozens of times” and began to physically manifest signs of mental distress, including gagging and experiencing chills that prompted one agent to wrap him in a blanket.

Over the course of his apparent breakdown, Cole repeatedly referred to his mental challenges, repeatedly denied the accusations, and repeatedly stated, “How am I supposed to explain that I’m innocent?” according to the filing.

After the FBI agents allegedly made numerous threats and assertions of “infallible certainty” about evidence supposedly implicating Cole, the suspect began “stimming,” then broke, claimed his attorneys.

Cole’s attorneys defined stimming as “the self-regulating repetition characteristic of an autistic person in acute physical and emotional distress.” According to the defense, Cole manifested this stimming behavior when he allegedly chanted, “I didn’t, I didn’t, I didn’t,” then said to himself, “Do whatever you can to clear your name. You can get out of this.”

After Cole allegedly short-circuited, the agents supposedly gave him an off-ramp, asking him to identify a suspect in surveillance footage. The filing, citing the transcript, summarizes the exchange Cole allegedly had with the agents that resulted in Cole identifying the suspect as himself:

“Do you recognize that person?” “No.” “Have you watched this video before?” “No.” (Tr. at 92.) Only then did the agents remind him what a denial would cost: “lying to federal agents is breaking the law. That’s another crime. … So more lies just makes it worse, okay? … No, look at me. Do you understand that?” (Id.) Seconds later, repeating the question drew the opposite answer. “So, is this individual you?” (Pause.) “Yes.”

The defense claimed in the filing that Cole’s identification of the suspect as himself after repeated denials “was not the product of the video; Mr. Cole had just denied recognizing himself in it. It was the product of the threat — the agents turned ‘No’ into ‘Yes’ by telling him that ‘No’ was itself a crime.”

Following Cole’s apparent admission that he was the suspect on-screen, he allegedly began “repeating the agents’ own script back to them.”

Furthermore, the FBI agents, having apparently recognized that Cole is close with his family and sensitive about their perception of him, allegedly threatened to “drag them all here” and subject them to a similar ordeal unless he told them “the truth,” according to the filing.

After reviewing audio of Cole’s interrogation and related documents, Richard Leo, a professor of law and psychology at the University of San Francisco, said in a Sept. 24 report filed by the defense that Cole’s Dec. 4 interrogation:

involved the use of psychological interrogation techniques, methods, and strategies that have been shown by social science research to increase the risk of eliciting false and unreliable statements, admissions and/or confessions (i.e., situational risk factors). These included: Reid-based guilt-presumptive interrogation; false and exaggerated evidence ploys; minimization and maximization; and implied (if not explicit) promises of leniency and implied threats.

In light of Leo’s conclusion and the recordings that prompted it, the defense argued that Cole’s statements to the FBI were “involuntary under the totality of the circumstances” and that his interrogation was “objectively coercive.”

Cole’s attorneys did not respond to requests for comment by deadline.

A Justice Department spokesperson told Blaze News that the department “intends to respond to the defense’s motion in a filing with the Court” and “does not comment on pending litigation.” The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia told Blaze News, “We will respond to the motion in our filing with the court.”

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) demanded on Wednesday that FBI Director Kash Patel resign over Cole’s case, stating what Patel and former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino “have done to this autistic black man is inexcusable.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!