The Justice Department said recently that Brian Cole Jr. confessed to planting the bombs on Jan. 5, 2021.
WASHINGTON—An indictment has been returned against Brian Cole Jr., the Virginia man accused of placing pipe bombs in Washington before the events of Jan. 6, 2021, a judge said on Dec. 30, refraining from ordering detention ahead of an anticipated trial.
During a hearing in Washington, U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh said a grand jury had returned an indictment against Cole in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia rather than the federal court where he was presiding. However, he declined accepting the indictment due to an ongoing debate within the D.C. Circuit about whether the federal court could use such an indictment.
The U.S Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is expected to review that issue but has yet to make a ruling. Sharbaugh pointed to a ruling on Dec. 9 from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who serves as the chief judge for the district, in a separate case that involved a similar question about indictments. In his order, Boasberg said “the public interest lies in letting the Court of Appeals decide this issue before the Government moves forward both on this case and in similar fashion on other cases.”
During the Dec. 30 hearing, Cole’s grandmother testified to her ability to serve as a third-party monitor for the court. The defense had suggested Cole could stay with his grandmother in her gated community in Gainesville, Virginia.
Cole, who could be seen in court wearing glasses and a beige shirt, resisted pre-trial detention, with his attorneys arguing that he was willing to undergo house arrest and was not a danger to the community. The Justice Department said Cole had confessed to authorities that he planted the bombs and urged his detention.
“By his own admission, the defendant committed these chilling acts because he was unhappy with the response of political leaders on both sides of the political aisle to questions raised about the results of the 2020 election, and ‘something just snapped,’” a government filing, quoting Cole, reads.
Sharbaugh said he would take the request for pre-trial detention under advisement but expected to have an order within days of the hearing.
By Sam Dorman
