Federal prosecutors told a judge that the man suspected of planting pipe bombs near the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters in January 2021 confessed to the crime in an affidavit filed Sunday.
The Department of Justice announced Dec. 4 the arrest of Brian Cole Jr. on charges of transporting an explosive device and attempted malicious destruction by means of explosive materials. In the filing, prosecutors note Cole said he “just snapped” and wanted to punish both political parties, adding he was inspired by The Troubles, a roughly 30-year ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland.
Accused January 5 pipe bomber Brian Cole told investigators that: he went to a Jan. 5, 2021 protest in favor of Trump in DC (but later admitted he went there to plant the bombs), he didn’t like either party, idea came from The Troubles in Ireland, & it wasn’t linked to January 6. pic.twitter.com/Og8eqieFmS
— Jerry Dunleavy IV
(@JerryDunleavy) December 28, 2025
(@JerryDunleavy) “The defendant explained that after the 2020 election, ‘when it first seemed like something was wrong’ and ‘stuff started happening,’ he began following the issue closely on YouTube and Reddit and felt ‘bewildered,’” the filing said. “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.’”
“The defendant felt that ‘the people up top,’ including ‘people on both sides, public figures,’ should not ‘ignore people’s grievances’ or call them ‘conspiracy theorists,’ ‘bad people,’ ‘Nazis’ or ‘fascists,’” the filing continued. “Instead, ‘if people feel that their votes are like just being thrown away, then . . . at the very least someone should address it.’”
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino announced in a May 26 post on X the pipe bomb case was one of several Biden administration-era cases the agency would review. During a press conference announcing Cole’s arrest, Attorney General Pam Bondi told reporters the case was cracked without any new tips or witnesses coming forward.
“The defendant cannot rebut the statutory presumption of detention considering the extreme and profoundly serious nature of his crimes, the overwhelming evidence of his guilt, the years he has spent deceiving those around him to avoid accountability, and the intolerable risk that he will again resort to violence to express his frustration with the world around him,” prosecutors said in the filing. “The facts and circumstances in this case compel the conclusion that there is no condition or combination of conditions that would reasonably assure the safety of the community if the defendant were released pending trial.”
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