WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� A federal magistrate judge on Friday the pretrial release of a man charged with planting outside the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican national parties on the eve of the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh ruled that must remain jailed before trial. The magistrate concluded there are no conditions of release that can reasonably protect the public from the danger that Cole allegedly poses.
Justice Department prosecutors say Cole confessed to placing pipe bombs outside the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee headquarters only hours before a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol. Cole said he hoped the explosives would detonate and 鈥渉oped there would be news about it.鈥�
鈥淢ercifully, that did not happen,” Sharbaugh wrote. 鈥淏ut if the plan had succeeded, the results,” he said, could have been devastating, “creating a greater sense of terror on the eve of a high-security Congressional proceeding, causing serious property damage in the heart of Washington, D.C., grievously injuring DNC or RNC staff and other innocent bystanders, or worse.鈥�
After his arrest last month, Cole told investigators that he believed someone needed to 鈥渟peak up鈥� for people who believed the 2020 election, which Democrat Joe Biden won, was stolen and that he wanted to target the country鈥檚 political parties because they were 鈥渋n charge,鈥� according to prosecutors.
If convicted of both charges against him, Cole faces up to 10 years of imprisonment on one charge and up to 20 years of imprisonment on a second charge that also carries a five-year mandatory minimum prison sentence.
Cole’s attorneys asked for him to be released on home detention with GPS monitoring. They said Cole doesn’t have a criminal record, has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and lives in a stable home that he shared with his parents in Woodbridge, Virginia.
“Mr. Cole simply does not pose a danger to the community,” . 鈥淲hatever risk the government posits is theoretical and backward-looking, belied by the past four years where Mr. Cole lived at home with his family without incident.鈥�
Cole continued to purchase bomb-making components for months after the Jan. 6 riot, according to prosecutors. They said Cole told the FBI that he planted the pipe bombs because 鈥渟omething just snapped.鈥�
鈥淭he sudden and abrupt motivation behind Mr. Cole鈥檚 alleged actions presents concerns about how quickly the same abrupt and impulsive conduct might recur,鈥� Sharbaugh wrote.
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