A federal trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 16 for Brian J. Cole Jr., a Virginia man accused of planting pipe bombs near the national headquarters of both the Democratic and Republican parties in Washington, D.C., on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. The trial is expected to last approximately two weeks.
U.S. District Judge Amir Ali set the trial date during a hearing on Wednesday. Defense attorneys and prosecutors have not yet discussed the possibility of a plea deal to resolve the case, according to one of Cole's lawyers. The judge has ruled that former President Donald Trump's mass pardons for Capitol rioters do not apply to Cole. Ali rejected defense arguments that Cole's alleged actions were "inextricably and demonstrably tethered" to the events of Jan. 6, concluding that the blanket pardons specifically applied only to individuals convicted of crimes related to the Capitol attack.
Cole was arrested nearly a year after Trump issued pardons, commuted sentences, and ordered dismissals for more than 1,500 individuals charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack. Prosecutors stated that Cole confessed to FBI agents after his arrest.
Authorities allege that Cole placed two pipe bombs outside the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee headquarters on the night before the riot. Law enforcement officers discovered the devices on Jan. 6, but they did not detonate. Cole was indicted by a grand jury on four counts: interstate transportation of explosives, malicious intent to use explosives, an act of terrorism while armed, and attempting to use weapons of mass destruction.