The man charged with placing faulty pipe bombs outside the Democratic and Republican National Committee headquarters the night before the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, is trying a unique defense to get the charges dismissed.
As first reported by journalist Scott MacFarlane, Brian Cole’s attorneys, Mario Williams and John Shoreman with the Humanity Dignity and Rights law firm, have filed a 23-page court motion arguing the charges against him must be dismissed under President Donald Trump’s sweeping pardon of people who were charged and convicted of crimes during the attack on the Capitol.
In the president’s 2025 order, Trump granted “a full complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.”
The court filing lists three main reasons why Cole should be treated like all the others who took part in the Capitol riot, saying the government’s own narrative of Jan. 6 proves he’s worthy of the pardon.
They argued Cole’s alleged actions were “motivated by grievances about the 2020 presidential election; was directed at the headquarters of the two national political parties on Capitol Hill; and was timed ‘on the eve of the January 6 certification of the electoral college vote.'”
“Brian Cole’s conduct is so inextricably and demonstrably tethered to the events at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, that he must be pardoned pursuant to the applicable Presidential Pardon of January 20, 2025,” the filing argues.
In the same filing, however, they dispute all the allegations against Cole and note that he maintains his innocence.
“For this motion, however, the critical point is how the government itself describes his alleged conduct — when it occurred, where it occurred, and what it was allegedly about,” they wrote.
Cole, who lives in Woodbridge, Virginia, was arrested in early December 2025 and charged with transporting an explosive device across state lines and attempted malicious destruction by means of fire and explosive materials.
Cole has pleaded not guilty in the case, but apparently confessed to the acts in interviews with investigators, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
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