DC pipe bomb suspect targeted both parties over election claims, DOJ says

Federal prosecutors said Sunday the man accused of planting pipe bombs in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021, told investigators he felt compelled to “speak up” for people who believed the 2020 election was stolen and said he targeted the two major political parties because they were in charge of the political system.

Prosecutors detailed the allegations in a memo filed with the Justice Department, arguing that Brian J. Cole Jr., arrested earlier this month, should remain detained as the case moves forward.

Cole was arrested in Woodbridge, Virginia, after investigators identified him as the suspect accused of placing pipe bombs near the Capitol complex and outside the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters, marking the first major break in a case that had gone cold for years.

Sunday’s memo provides the most detailed government account to date, including statements prosecutors say Cole made to investigators. It also cites evidence such as bomb-making materials recovered from his home after his arrest, which officials say link him to the crime.

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Undetonated homemade bombs were discovered Jan. 6, though prosecutors said Cole denied his actions were connected to the events at the Capitol that day.

Although he initially denied involvement, prosecutors allege Cole later confessed to placing the devices outside the RNC and DNC.

Cole also allegedly said he was disillusioned by the election outcome and sympathetic to claims by President Donald Trump and some allies that it had been stolen.

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“In the defendant’s view, if people ‘feel that, you know, something as important as voting in the federal election is being tampered with, is being, you know, being – you know, relegated null and void, then, like, someone needs to speak up, right? Someone up top. You know, just to, just to at the very least calm things down,’” prosecutors wrote.

They added that when agents returned to questions about his motive, Cole explained that “something just snapped” after “watching everything, just everything getting worse.”

“The defendant wanted to do something ‘to the parties’ because ‘they were in charge,’” prosecutors wrote. “When asked why he placed the devices at the RNC and DNC, the defendant responded, ‘I really don’t like either party at this point.’”

Prosecutors said Cole also told investigators the idea to use pipe bombs stemmed from his interest in the historical conflict in Northern Ireland.

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Cole’s attorneys are expected to argue against his detention at a hearing scheduled for Tuesday in federal court in Washington.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.