On Sunday, the Department of Justice filed a memorandum arguing for the pretrial detention of accused pipe bomber Brian Cole Jr.—and it’s the kind of filing that’s bound to raise eyebrows, and maybe a few blood pressures, along the way.
Also, you’ll notice the headline refers to “J5,” not “J6,” and that distinction isn’t accidental. There’s a very specific—and very important—reason for it. Stay with me; we’ll get to it. Meanwhile, a quick refresher.
On December 4, 2025—nearly five years after the still-murky incident in which pipe bombs were discovered outside both the DNC and RNC headquarters, just as chaos was erupting at the Capitol on January 6, 2021—authorities finally arrested the man they now claim was responsible. The suspect is 30-year-old Brian Cole Jr. of Woodbridge, Virginia, whom prosecutors allege planted the explosives that set Washington on edge at a pivotal political moment.
He was charged with a pair of felonies:
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Explosive Device — transportation in interstate commerce with intent to kill, injure, or intimidate any individual or unlawfully to damage or destroy any building, vehicle, or other real or personal property (in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 844(d))
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Explosive Device — malicious destruction or attempted malicious destruction by means of fire and explosive materials (in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 844(i))
Cole appeared in court for the first time the next day but did not submit a plea. His detention hearing was originally scheduled for December 15, 2025, but was postponed to December 30, 2025.
Ahead of the detention hearing, the DOJ submitted a memorandum arguing that Cole should remain behind bars while awaiting trial. The document runs just 23 pages and is well worth reading for anyone following the case closely. That said, I’ll focus on the key claims—keeping in mind that this filing was submitted on behalf of the Trump Justice Department by U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro.
After methodically laying out Cole’s alleged purchase of bomb-making materials and his movements on and around the night of January 5, the memorandum cuts to the real issue: motive. And that’s where the DOJ’s narrative becomes especially revealing:
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During the interview, which was video-recorded, the defendant initially denied manufacturing, transporting, and planting the pipe bombs. When asked about his whereabouts on January 5, 2021, the defendant stated that he drove his Nissan Sentra to Washington, D.C. by himself that evening to attend a protest concerning the outcome of the 2020 election.
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The defendant explained: “I didn’t agree with what people were doing, like just telling half the country that they – that their – that they just need to ignore it. I didn’t think that was a good idea, so I went to the protest.”
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The defendant “has never really been an openly political person” and does not discuss politics often with his family to avoid conflict. According to the defendant, “no one knows” his political views, including his family.
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Later in the interview, the defendant explained that after the 2020 election, “when it first seemed like something was wrong” and “stuff started happening,” he began following the issue closely on YouTube and Reddit and felt “bewildered.” In the defendant’s view, if people “feel that, you know, something as important as voting in the federal election is being tampered with, is being, you know, being – you know, relegated null and void, then, like, someone needs to speak up, right? Someone up top. You know, just to, just to at the very least calm things down.”
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The defendant felt that “the people up top,” including “people on both sides, public figures,” should not “ignore[e] people’s grievances” or call them “conspiracy theorists,” “bad people,” “Nazis,” or “fascists.” Instead, “if people feel that their votes are like just being thrown away, then . . . at the very least someone should address it.”
Up to then, Cole insisted that he had not perpetrated the acts of planting the pipe bombs; however, after being presented with the surveillance footage and/or a still image from it, Cole ultimately confessed that he was the person depicted in the video. He then guided the investigators through his method of creating, transporting, and placing the bombs:
- The defendant stated that he assembled the devices in the hours before he drove to Washington, D.C. on January 5, 2021, and that he cleaned the devices with disinfectant wipes. Eventually, the defendant admitted that he did not go to Washington, D.C. to attend a protest but in fact traveled there to plant the devices.
- The defendant placed one of the devices in his backpack, exited his car, and walked toward the DNC. He set the timer on the first device to the maximum duration (60 minutes) and planted the device near the DNC. The defendant then returned to his car, retrieved the second device and placed it in his backpack, and walked to the RNC, where he set the timer for 60 minutes and planted the device.
- According to the defendant, he was not really thinking about how people would react when the bombs detonated, although he hoped there would be news about it.
- The defendant stated that he had not tested the devices before planting them. He claimed that when he learned that the devices did not detonate, he was “pretty relieved,” and asserted that he placed the devices at night because he did not want to kill people.
- The defendant stated that he did not tell anyone about the pipe bombs before planting them or in the years since.
- When the interviewing agents returned to the defendant’s motive, he explained that “something just snapped” after “watching everything, just everything getting worse.” The defendant wanted to do something “to the parties” because “they were in charge.” When asked why he placed the devices at the RNC and DNC, the defendant responded, “I really don’t like either party at this point.”
- The defendant also explained that the idea to use pipe bombs came from his interest in history, specifically the Troubles in Ireland. The defendant denied that his actions were directed toward Congress or related to the proceedings scheduled to take place on January 6.
Naturally, Politico ran with this misleading angle and headline: Justice Department says Jan. 6 pipe bomb suspect believed election conspiracy theories.
Um, no, actually the department didn’t say that. Go read the excerpts for yourself—or better yet, the full memorandum—if you’re worried anything material has been left out. Yes, Cole voiced concerns about the election and frustration that those concerns weren’t being addressed. But apparently, in Politico’s world, any questions about the election automatically qualify as “conspiracy theories” and can be waved away without further thought. Either way, the DOJ memo simply does not say what Politico claims it does. At best, that headline is sloppy; at worst, it’s deliberately misleading.
That said, it’s entirely understandable that plenty of people remain unconvinced Cole is the actual culprit. This investigation was allowed to rot on the vine for years, and the near-total lack of transparency surrounding the pipe bomb incident created a vacuum that naturally filled with speculation. Add in the Biden DOJ’s obsessive zeal in targeting anyone even tangentially connected to the Capitol on January 6, and it’s easy to see why many Americans have concluded the full truth may never be known.
But for those of you who are willing to accept the Trump DOJ’s explanation, this is what we can conclude:
– Cole acted alone
– He was not happy about the 2020 election
– He blamed both parties
– He was the one who planted the bombs, but intended for them to detonate on the night of January 5
Of course, that takes Cole’s account at face value. However, if one does, it’s no longer accurate to refer to him as the alleged J6 pipe bomber.
