Overview
- In a detention memo filed Sunday, prosecutors say Brian J. Cole Jr. waived his Miranda rights and gave a videotaped confession admitting he planted devices outside the DNC and RNC.
- Cole allegedly said he wanted to “speak up” for people who believed the 2020 election was stolen, targeted the parties because they were “in charge,” and denied aiming at Congress or the Jan. 6 certification.
- Evidence outlined by the government includes bomb-making equipment seized at his home, purchase records for matching components, surveillance footage, cell-site data, license-plate reader hits, and a pattern of hundreds of phone wipes beginning Dec. 15, 2020.
- Prosecutors say the devices were viable and set with 60-minute timers, assert their failure to detonate was luck, and report Cole expressed relief afterward while claiming he did not intend to kill.
- Cole was arrested Dec. 4 in Woodbridge, Virginia, on federal explosives and attempted-destruction charges, and a detention hearing is scheduled for Tuesday in Washington federal court.