WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors argued in court Wednesday to keep accused January 6th pipe bomber Brian Cole Jr. jailed, citing evidence that he experimented for years with explosive chemicals and repeatedly wiped his phone.
The debate between prosecutors and Cole’s defense team before DC US District Judge Amir Ali for nearly an hour in the DC court hinged on the degree to which the pipe bomb suspect still posed a danger to the community.
Assistant US Attorney Charlie Jones argued there was sufficient evidence of Cole’s dangerousness, since he had been conducting experiments with potassium chlorate — a component of improvised explosive devices — as far back as 2018.
Jones noted the “amateur bomb-maker” experienced a “triggering event” that caused him to research homemade black powder — and bought even more components after allegedly laying explosives in a backpack outside the headquarters of both major political parties on Jan. 5, 2021.
The prosecutor further cited Cole’s peculiar habit of putting his phone through a factory reset to wipe all personal data starting in August 2022 “to conceal his digital activity.” The accused also “spent hundreds of dollars” on a program to “clean” his personal computer regularly.
“These bombs were not harmless,” Jones told the judge. “This conduct was not isolated.”
The assistant US attorney revealed close to the end of the more than hour-long hearing that Cole had additionally fabricated “a carefully planned cover story” for the first two hours of his initial interview — before confessing to the crime.
In that exchange, Cole told agents “that he only put one device in the backpack at a time,” indicating an awareness that the were viable explosives and that the devices were “set … to explode,” Jones said.
“He finally admitted that it was him who placed those pipe bombs,” Jones concluded, adding that video of the interview had been submitted to the judge and clearly shows a person appearing to have all their mental faculties.
Cole’s defense attorney Alex Little rejected the notion that the evidence amounted to proof of dangerousness, citing the 30-year-old defendant’s “extreme autism” and obsessive compulsive disorder diagnoses.
Cole was diagnosed with level 1, the mildest form of autism spectrum disorder, according to prosecutors.
But Little used those diagnoses — which were recently attested to before the court by a family doctor — to call the connection between the cell phone wipes and the case at hand “completely fictional.”
He also called the entirety of the FBI’s four-hour interview with Cole “suggestive,” claimed there was additional evidence that the bombs recovered by agents were not “viable,” that the alleged explosives-tinkering was something like a “science experiment” and noted the defendant’s lack of a criminal record.
“None of it suggests present danger,” Little said to Ali, advocating for Cole’s conditional release to his family’s home in Woodbridge, Va.
“There’s a difference between creating inert props,” he added, “and creating viable weapons.”
Ali informed the defense lawyer that his case “would be strongest” if there was evidence of constant phone wiping stretching back before the attempted pipe bombing.
Little had earlier claimed there was not “any evasive activity” by Cole before the factory reset in mid-2022.
Jones later noted there was an additional instance of a factory reset in December 2020.
The judge appeared to express reluctance in reconsidering a previous ruling from fellow DC jurist Matthew Sharbaugh ordering Cole to remain confined, but instructed both parties that he would rule on the defense’s motion seeking to revoke that on a later date.
DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro indicted Cole earlier this month with transporting explosives across state lines with intent to kill, injure and cause damage as well as attempted malicious destruction by means of explosive materials.
He faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of both counts.
Elsewhere in the hearing, Cole’s legal team and prosecutors agreed to a month of evidence sharing in preparation for the upcoming trial, with Little indicating defense lawyers would subpoena both the feds and Congress for records.
FBI agents arrested Cole at the home of his mother and father, a bail bondsman, on Dec. 4 following a five-year investigation.
“Mr. Cole as a suspect did not emerge until very late in that investigation,” Jones noted at one point in Wednesday’s hearing, relaying how the bureau ended up opening a new case file that would be handed over to the defense.
Little indicated that his team will seek to argue in future motions against details from Cole’s “alleged confession” and that his Fourth Amendment rights may have been violated by warrants that obtained his cell phone data.
Cole didn’t speak in the hearing, except to acknowledge himself when Ali greeted him before the proceedings began — and appeared to intently follow the arguments for and against his continued imprisonment.
The judge scheduled the next status hearing for Feb. 27 at 10:30 a.m.
