The Virginia man accused of planting pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic National Committees on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot is scheduled to stand trial in February after a federal judge set a two-week jury trial during a hearing on Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Amir Ali scheduled jury selection to begin the week of Feb. 15, 2027, with the trial expected to last approximately two weeks. Brian Cole Jr., 30, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him, appeared in court Wednesday for a status hearing.
The scheduling comes two days after Ali rejected Cole’s effort to have the case dismissed, ruling that President Donald Trump’s mass pardon for Jan. 6 defendants does not apply to him.
In a three-page opinion issued Monday, Ali, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, concluded that the pardon was expressly limited to people who had already been convicted of offenses related to the Jan. 6 attack.
“Even assuming that the conduct Cole is charged with is ‘related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,’ the pardon is expressly limited to people who had been ‘convicted of offenses’ related to those events,” Ali wrote.
The judge noted that Cole “had not been convicted of the conduct at issue when the President issued the pardon; indeed, he was not charged until many months after the President’s proclamation.”
Ali also rejected Cole’s alternative argument that Trump’s directive instructing the attorney general to seek dismissal of pending Jan. 6-related indictments required prosecutors to drop the charges against him.
“But this argument does not work either,” Ali wrote.
Cole’s attorneys had argued there was “no serious dispute” that his alleged conduct was “inextricably and demonstrably tethered” to the Jan. 6 events and therefore fell within the scope of Trump’s pardon.
The defendant’s mother, Delicia Cole, spoke outside the courtroom on Wednesday and said, “Monday’s decision was very heartbreaking.” She added that it “feels largely adopted on the government’s position, with little or additional explanation.”
“We can’t help but to question how the government can continue to change its position… one interpretation no longer fits, another seems to take its place,” she said.
Cole is being held in Washington, D.C., jail without bond after previously attempting to remain at his grandmother’s home on house arrest. His attorneys have presented documentation showing he has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder, in part as their explanation for why he compulsively factory reset his phone more than 900 times from December 2020 to the day he was arrested.
Federal authorities arrested Cole at his Woodbridge, Virginia, home last December after investigators said evidence tied him to the unsolved pipe bomb case. According to the criminal complaint, cellphone data also showed Cole’s phone connected to towers near both party headquarters on the evening of Jan. 5, 2021.
Cole was initially charged with transporting an explosive device in interstate commerce and attempted malicious destruction by means of explosive materials. Those charges carry maximum prison sentences of 10 years and 20 years, respectively. In April, he was hit with terrorism charges of acting with the intent to influence government policy and intimidate civilians, as well as attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.
The FBI has alleged Cole planted improvised explosive devices outside the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters on the evening of Jan. 5, 2021, one day before thousands of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. The bombs, which did not detonate, were discovered and safely removed, while investigators have said the bombs were still “viable.”
The case remained one of the bureau’s longest-running Jan. 6-related investigations before Cole’s arrest. Months after the attack, the FBI released surveillance footage showing a masked suspect walking near the two party offices between approximately 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., the time investigators believe the devices were planted.
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U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro has said a close examination of evidence the government already had ultimately led investigators to Cole’s arrest. Prosecutors contend the evidence, combined with cellphone location data and other investigative findings, links him to the alleged bombing plot.
The case is being prosecuted by Jocelyn Ballantine, who worked at the Justice Department under former Attorney General Merrick Garland and prosecuted dozens of Jan. 6 cases, all of which have since been overruled thanks to Trump’s sweeping pardons and clemency actions.