Judge reserves ruling on whether alleged Jan. 6 pipe bomber should remain detained pending trial

(NEW YORK) — A federal magistrate judge did not immediately rule Tuesday on whether the Virginia man charged with placing pipe bombs outside of the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters the night before the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol will remain behind bars pending trial, after saying both prosecutors and the defendant’s attorneys raised important legal issues that he will have to take under further consideration.

During the hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Jones urged Judge Matthew Sharbaugh to reject arguments from suspect Brian Cole Jr.’s attorneys that he would pose no danger if released and remained under house arrest — noting such a setting was similar to where he had carried out his alleged planning to plant the pipe bombs in the first place.

Cole was arrested by federal authorities earlier this month following a massive probe that had stymied investigators for almost five years. He appeared in court on Dec. 5, where a judge detailed the two charges he currently faces. The charges carry a maximum sentence of up to 30 years if he is convicted.

Cole’s attorneys had urged the judge to release him pending trial, arguing the government has presented no evidence that shows he poses a danger to the general public.

Cole, who has not entered a plea, allegedly told investigators in a lengthy confession that he wasn’t targeting the joint session of Congress that was convening to certify former President Joe Biden’s election win, according to previous court filing from the Department of Justice.

On Tuesday, Jones said that on the morning of his arrest, Cole allegedly wiped the memory from his phone for the 943rd time since December 2020, just days before he allegedly planted the devices. 

“This is not a case that involves an isolated, impulsive act,” Jones said. “This is a case in which the government’s request for detention is based off of a pattern of concerning and disturbing conduct, including planned acts of extreme political violence, experimentation with explosive materials, destruction of evidence, persistent inclination and proclivity for hiding incriminating information from those around him, including his family.”

After Cole saw himself on the news in videos released by the FBI seeking tips on his identity, he said in the interview that he discarded all of his bomb-making materials at a nearby dump and said he never told anyone about his actions in the nearly five years since Jan. 6, according to the filing.

Cole’s attorney Mario Williams argued the tally of instances where he deleted his phone messages was being taken out of context and suggested it was more attributable to his diagnosis of being on the autism spectrum and having obsessive compulsive disorder. 

Judge Sharbaugh said he did find it “concerning” the evidence put forward by the government that allegedly showed Cole continued to purchase bomb-making components even after he allegedly placed the bombs outside the RNC and DNC. 

Sharbaugh also questioned whether the government had made any determination about what the impact or “blast radius” of the pipe bombs would have been had they detonated. Jones responded that it wasn’t entirely clear given the number of variables at play with pipe bombs, but that for anyone in near proximity it could be “life threatening.”

Throughout the arguments, Williams seemed to provide a partial roadmap for how they plan to present Cole’s defense should the case move forward to trial. Williams accused the government of overstating its evidence of Cole’s apparent radicalization leading up to Jan. 6, saying it had put forward no evidence similar to what prosecutors were able to gather in their investigations of the Capitol riot defendants who often had texts or social media activity that included fringe or even violent political rhetoric. 

At the conclusion of the hearing, Sharbaugh did not provide a specific timeline on when he would expect to rule on Cole’s detention, but said he would seek to do so “expeditiously.” 

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