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A man accused of planting pipe bombs outside the Democratic and Republican National Committee headquarters before the Jan. 6, 2021 attack told investigators after arrest He believed someone needed to be a “voice” for those who believe the 2020 election was stolen, according to federal prosecutors.
He said he targeted party headquarters because they were “in charge,” according to one person. New filing From U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.
Brian J. Cole Jr., 30, allegedly told investigators that after the election he was “looking at everything and everything was getting worse” and that “things just fell apart.”
Cole was arrested earlier this month and charged with transporting explosives across state lines and maliciously attempting to use a bomb to damage or destroy property.
Authorities have not previously outlined a possible motive for the pipe bombs or detailed any connection between the devices and the Capitol insurrection. But there were previous reports that Cole appeared to tell agents he believed conspiracy theory President Donald Trump was cheated out of the 2020 election.
According to new details in documents filed Sunday, Cole admitted in an interview after his arrest that on the day of the attack, he “intended to attend a protest in support of [then President] Trump,” but later admitted he traveled to Washington, D.C. specifically to plant pipe bombs rather than attend protests.
Trump continues to falsely insist that the 2020 election was “rigged” and “stolen” from him, claiming to have launched a phony legal fight to overturn the results and fueling a mob that stormed the halls of Congress in an attempt to halt Joe Biden’s victory.
According to Sunday’s filing, Cole admitted to investigators that he “was never really an overt political figure” and that “no one knew” his political views, including his family.
“I don’t agree with what people are doing, like telling half the country that they – their – they just have to ignore it. I don’t think that’s a good idea, so I went to the protest,” Cole said, according to the documents. “If people feel like their votes are being thrown away, then … at least somebody should address that.”
But when asked why he was targeting the RNC and DNC headquarters, Cole responded: “I really don’t like either party at this point.”
He added that he wanted to do something “for all parties” because “they are the ones in charge”.
Cole initially insisted he did not install the devices. But after investigators showed him a photo of the Nike Air Max Speed Turf shoes the suspect was wearing in surveillance footage, he admitted he “had a pair at one point” and said he “threw them away” because “they were so old and falling apart.”
Federal agents then reminded him that lying to them could result in additional criminal charges. When asked again if it was him in the video, Cole paused for about 15 seconds, “put his head face down on the table and responded, ‘Yes,'” according to the documents.
But Cole denied that the pipe bombs were targeting Congress or related to the certification of the Electoral College vote at the Capitol.
He “explained that the idea for using pipe bombs came from his interest in history, particularly the Troubles in Ireland,” documents show.
The Justice Department asked the judge to detain Cole pending trial, saying there was an “intolerable risk that he would again resort to violence to express his frustration with the world around him.”
During the interview, Cole also gave investigators details about the construction, transportation and placement of the pipe bombs, documents show.
Investigators said he revealed he learned how to make the powder from a video game that listed ingredients and supplemented that knowledge by watching science-related videos on YouTube.
Cole later said he transported the devices to Washington, D.C., on January 5, 2021, and placed them in a shoebox in the back seat of his Nissan Sentra. He wore a mask, bandana and gloves to avoid identification and fingerprints and used Google Maps to locate the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters, the documents said.
He told investigators he placed a device near the DNC, set a timer for up to 60 minutes, then returned to his car to retrieve a second device and then walked to the RNC, where he repeated the process.
The devices – which the FBI has previously described as “viable” and “likely to seriously injure or kill innocent bystanders” – did not explode.
according to arrest affidavit The Independent, Cole’s checking account and six credit cards show he purchased materials between 2019 and 2020 consistent with equipment left at the DNC and RNC, including galvanized pipe, end caps, battery connectors, kitchen timers, electrical wiring and homemade black powder ingredients.
Cole’s phone reportedly connected to Washington-area cell towers seven times between 7:39 and 8:24 p.m. on January 5, 2021. The towers cover the area surrounding the DNC and RNC headquarters. The timestamps are consistent with surveillance footage showing the person who planted the bomb.
Video captured about 20 minutes before the tree planting incident, a license plate reader scanned Cole’s vehicle as he exited South Capitol Street on Interstate 395, less than 1.5 miles from the bomb site. The FBI also noted that Cole had been in the area several weeks earlier and dined at a nearby restaurant on December 14, 2020.
When Cole saw himself on the news, he dumped all the bomb-making materials in a nearby dump, documents say.
Cole is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.